Inner Turmoil
by Kasumi9
Summary: Finished! Final Chapter has been uploaded. Horrible memories may never be forgotten, and scars are reminders of horrid pasts.
1. Part one

Keep an open mind when reading this, because I have tweaked with their origins a bit. Thoughtful comments only. Flames will be ignored.  
  
Legal stuff: Anything that has to do with the Powerpuff Girls, and all related scenarios, and stuff, belong to Cartoon Network. I own none of this! ________________________________________________________________________  
  
Inner Turmoil-Chapter 1  
  
For some reason she could never run fast enough.  
  
But there she was, trying, running faster than she'd ever thought possible. She was certainly fast enough to outrun anything, but for some reason she could never muster the power to escape this. It was a shadow. A malevolent presence that was so alien, yet so familiar at the same time. It chased her down, only content once it had her in its grasp; whatever "it" was, she didn't quite know  
  
It was a hallway of some kind, long, dark and barren. There was the sickly sweet odor of pain and suffering in the air, but she paid no attention to it at the moment. Her sense of smell was acute, superhuman, but the only thing she focused on was her breathing. Every movement was calculated and thought out, planned meticulously to decide what would get her away from her predator. It was her nature to be precise, yet that could not help her now. The shadow was moving closer, silent but no less deadly. The hallway she was in never seemed to end, and neither did the chase, at least until she was dead.  
  
She never tired. Her body had been made to withstand pressures a normal human being could not, very extreme pressures. Everything about her was designed for ultimate perfection. But there was at least one thing in the world that was stronger, and it was about to kill her.  
  
Her hands grew warm as she focused intense energy into her grasp. The light crackled and presented a dazzling show as it grew in intensity, humming with brilliant life. Lightening was dangerous, but could be used to one's advantage in the right set of hands.  
  
She spun around, hoping to catch whatever was behind her by surprise. She meant to direct the glowing orb of pure electricity at her attacker, but she never did. For the first time in her life, pure fear had set over her like a chill-  
  
-The attacker was right there, fast, getting closer.  
  
She cried out in surprise as a soft, yet strong hand caught her throat. It squeezed. Hard. She couldn't breath. There was so much power in those hands, rivaling her own super strength. There was pain, as the bones in her neck began to split. She was alone, dying.  
  
But just like every other time, she woke up.  
  
***  
  
-BZZZ BZZZ BZZZ BZZZ BZZZ-  
  
The fiery redhead bolted in her bed as the alarm directly next to her began to babble with annoying punctuality. Her head was swimming, for she had been awoken from a nightmare. The same nightmare she'd had every night since moving away from Townsville.  
  
Her body was drenched in a light film of sweat and her heart continued to pound aggressively against her ribs. Lightly she ran her hands across her face in an effort to dry herself. She sighed lightly and turned, letting the fluttering of her heart calm.  
  
She took the digital buzzer into her hand and looked at it with annoyance. Six A.M. Fantastic. It was time for her to get up and face another useless day. The June sun was shinning brightly into her room. A small sliver of golden light had managed to sneak through a slit in her curtains, creating a thin beam of shimmering gold on her bedroom floor.  
  
Sunshine always made her happy, just like the rain had always made her irritable. The same could be said for her two sisters, whose distinctly different mood swings varied dramatically and randomly between the three of them.  
  
One of her sisters seemed like her head was full of rainbows and fairies, the other-well- she seemed like she always had some kind of grudge against the world. Rebellious was the right world. The troubled red head looked at herself as a happy medium between them; a balance between the dramatic fluctuations in the other two. She was a little rebellious at heart, yet she could be sweet when she wanted too.  
  
On her own she was intelligent, and noted for being anal about many things. Everything she did was carefully calculated down to the last detail, so she would never make a mistake or have to face the reality of being wrong.  
  
Shut up Shut up Shut up  
  
With a bit more force than necessary she deactivated the alarm, plunging her room into instant silence. The only sound she could hear were the sounds of the rest of her family, already up and downstairs in the kitchen.  
  
She lazily threw the covers off of her bed and sat up, rubbing the last of the sleep from her eyes. She stood and walked over to the mirror on her door, clucking with discontent at the state of her hair.  
  
Running her fingers through her tangled locks, she looked at herself in the eyes and paused, watching her own face that seemed to be clouded with a hidden worry. Something was bothering her, she could sense it, but couldn't quite pinpoint what it was exactly. She always hated when there was something she didn't understand, and went through great lengths to master whatever it was.  
  
This was different though. There was something nagging at the corner of her brain that baffled her. Whatever it was, it was familiar, like a distant memory that she couldn't quite get a good grip on.  
  
You're sensing things. That's always happened to you. It's just the chemical in your system trying to tell you something is wrong in the world and you should be out there fixing it.  
  
But she couldn't. Not anymore at least.  
  
Besides, she told herself, there's probably bad stuff happening all over town. That's what's bothering you. It has to be. It's the fact that you should be out there doing something, but you can't.  
  
That was probably the truth. That was probably why she felt lost every morning, like she had some sort of task that needed to get done but she couldn't remember what it was.  
  
Her and her sisters had been made to fight the evil in the world, but they'd given up that job a long time ago. It had gotten too dangerous, and it had become apparent to them all that they were causing more trouble than good. Evil seemed to be drawn to them, and they were just putting too many innocent lives at risk. What was bothering her just had to be the fact that her and her sisters weren't putting their crime-fighting skills to good use anymore. Had to be.  
  
But what if it's worse than that.her mind chided. She shook her head briskly. No. There's nothing to worry about.  
  
She ran a finger under her lower eye-lid, looking into her own eyes with a sense of wonder. Pink. It wasn't enough that she had secret abilities; she had to practically announce the fact that she was strange by the mere fact that her eyes were pink. Nobody had pink eyes.  
  
She sighed inwardly, dismissing that thought entirely because it wasn't worth brooding over. She took a brush from the small table next to her and ran it through her hair, finally settled that it was as brushed as it was going to be. Finally fully calm, she turned to exit her room; hoping one of her sisters hadn't seized the bathroom for the morning.  
  
A half an hour later she found herself walking briskly downstairs, now in a considerably better mood because she felt fresh again. Her days always started the same; troubled right when she woke up, but cheerful once she was ready to greet the outside world.  
  
The dreams she kept having were slowly clouding her mental stability when she was awake, but she never wanted to admit that to anyone. She'd become jumpy in public and very irritable, and moody, but that had only begun to happen in the last few weeks. Perhaps the stress of finals had also played a role in that.  
  
The fact that the dreams were always consistent and frightful was tiresome, and she hadn't been sleeping very well in a long time. But never the less she made it a point to always look her best and to look strong. She couldn't bear to think about what people would say if she was letting a silly old dream trouble her. She always tried to remind herself that it was a dream, and couldn't possibly be reality. There wasn't anything harmful about a stupid dream, anyway. It was just the lack of quality sleep that was damaging her psych.  
  
When she walked into the kitchen, her two sisters were already sitting at the table eating breakfast, as was their father, whom they affectionately called "Professor". For some reason they'd began calling him that when they were born and it had stuck. His name was actually James Utonium, Professor Utonium for short, but they never called him by his first name. Occasionally they even called him "Dad" if the mood called for it, despite the fact that he wasn't biologically their father.  
  
He was sitting at the table reading the morning paper, his thin reading glasses sitting gently on the bridge of his nose. When she entered the room he looked up just slightly from his paper,  
  
"Morning Blossom, honey," he said cheerfully. She gave him her best smile.  
  
"Morning Professor. Umm, thanks," she said as she sat down at her own already-prepared bowl of cereal. He certainly spoiled all three of them, and would often go through great lengths to make sure they were happy.  
  
He wasn't married, but a horrible lab accident, which he refused to speak of, had brought Blossom and her sisters into his care. He was single, raising three teenage girls with super-powers, and always seemed to feed them this cock-and-bull story about how they were born.  
  
Blossom had the right smarts to know he was sugarcoating the actual situation in order to keep them safe. Blossom couldn't help but feel sorry for him, but respectful at the same time. Except for the light graying at his temples, he seemed to be handling the pressures of solo fatherhood fairly well.  
  
The Professor had graduated from Townsville University with a Masters in molecular biology, and had his own laboratory in their home. That was pretty much the extent of what the girls new about his past. He claimed he created them in his own lab using various household condiments and girly objects (with of course a dash of Xantium, Chemical X for short), but Blossom knew that was bunk. It was simply a scientific impossibility, and she figured there was more to his story that he didn't want to tell them.  
  
There was a few times where she even knew the professor was lying when he talked about his past employments. He'd once said he'd been teaching Bio physics at Pokey Oaks High school in Townsville, but all three girls had visited the school once, and simply knew he'd never been there.  
  
Right now he was a Bio Professor at the University of Washington, but he had had some other job when the girls were born. That was all they knew, but they had the sickly feeling that this job had something to do with them.  
  
He still had a laboratory. The girls had tirelessly helped him move everything when they'd come to live in the new house, but they noticed he never really used it that much anymore. His employment at the University took up a great deal of his time, and when he wasn't at school he was usually grading papers, or dealing with some sort of argument amongst the sisters.  
  
Blossom sat next to her blonde sister, who was currently deeply engrossed in a cartoon she was watching on the small kitchen TV. Her bright blue eyes sparkled with glee as she tangled a finger into one of her fluffy pigtails. Bubbles could be considered the airhead sister, but she had more than once proven she had more toughness in her than she normally led on. Everything magical and beautiful seemed to fascinate her. In other words, she was the girliest of the three of them, and often let things emotionally bother her more than they should. She cried a lot, and always had since they were born.  
  
Blossom figured it was just the way Bubbles responded to stressful situations, in the same way that she herself would try to come up with some convoluted plan to deal with it. Bubbles didn't actually notice her sit down, but gave a small giggle at something that had happened on the TV. Her half eaten cereal sat swirling in her bowl creating a mushy swamp of sugar.  
  
"Um, can we turn this shit off?" her other sister said bitterly, slamming her piece of toast onto the plate, sending crumbs in every direction. Professor Utonium merely flipped the page of the newspaper.  
  
"Buttercup, please don't use that language at the table." he trailed off, obviously deeply engrossed in an interesting science article, acting as if this sort of behavior was common practice in their household. Buttercup snorted.  
  
"Give me the remote!" she said testily.  
  
"No! And it isn't poooo, you are," Bubbles said in defense, emphasizing the word poo as if challenging Buttercup's use of profanity.  
  
"Augh, this is lame!" Buttercup cried and proceeded to wrench the remote out of Bubbles's grasp. She fought back, pulling in the opposite direction, and for a good five minutes they fought over the remote, screaming random insults at each other. Blossom rolled her eyes and continued peeling her orange. The Professor didn't say a word, but Blossom could see a faint smile cross his lips.  
  
With an angry cry that signaled Bubbles losing the remote, Buttercup finally managed to seize it from her grip. Bubbles folded her arms in protest, throwing an angry glare at Buttercup before tearing up. Thankfully she didn't full-out cry, because Blossom felt her sisters were already testing her sleep-deprived patience. Feeling satisfied, Buttercup began flipping through the channels furiously, letting less than a second pass before changing.  
  
"I don't know how you can actually see what's on TV when you don't take the time to look," Blossom said casually. She was deeply involved with a crumb on her place mat. Buttercup didn't respond, and Blossom risked a glance up. Buttercup had finally settled, to Blossom's amazement, on the news. "Ah, something intellectually stimulating for a change," she said with a sly smile.  
  
Buttercup turned to her with a slightly irritated expression. Her shoulder length black hair was styled in its customary layered flip that she always wore, and her clothing resembled that of a girl who was emotionally tragic. She always wore dark colors, mostly black or dark green to match her brilliant emerald eyes.  
  
Blossom had always been slightly disgusted of her appearance, because she always looked as if she belonged more in the shadows of alleyways than in their overly bright suburban home. She had multiple piercings on her ears and always wore an abundance of strange, punkish accessories. Blossom met her fiery stare, because it was hard to avoid. Her eyes stood out ridiculously against the dark eye-makeup she always wore.  
  
To Blossom's amazement, Buttercup had no nasty retort to throw at her. Something on the news caught her attention-  
  
"Another tragedy today at the US Bank. A gang robbery resulted in two people dead-" That was all Blossom was able to hear because Buttercup interrupted.  
  
"Well I'll be. I bet that wouldn't have happened if we were there."  
  
That did it. That struck the nerve. There was instant silence at the table as Blossom threw her napkin down in front of her, staring out the kitchen window. Bubbles had suddenly become very interested in her soggy cereal. The professor once again turned the page of his newspaper, but was obviously waiting for the explosion.  
  
"Oh, struck a nerve, have I sis?" she said mockingly.  
  
"Buttercup, stoppit'," Bubbles said forcefully, still watching her cereal float aimlessly.  
  
"I thought we've been through this before. We don't do that stuff anymore," Blossom said calmly.  
  
"Bullshit! I know just as much as you do that we should be! You know it bothers you! I hear you crying at night-"  
  
"SHUT UP!" Blossom cried angrily, jumping from the table and heading towards the door.  
  
"Girls!" the professor cried in alarm. Blossom stopped in the doorway as if she was planning on saying something.  
  
"Look, things, aren't the same." she trailed off.  
  
"DO YOU KNOW HOW MANY LIVES WE COULD HAVE SAVED IN THE PAST WEEK!?" Buttercup roared. Bubbles moaned.  
  
"WE AREN'T WHAT WE USED TO BE AND YOU KNOW IT!"  
  
"HOW!?"  
  
"GIRLS!!!" the professor was now getting angry, despite the fact that fights between Blossom and Buttercup were as regular as breathing.  
  
"First of all, we can't fly anymore-"  
  
"So?" Buttercup snorted. "We still can a little-"  
  
"I would hardly call being able to jump off a skyscraper and land safely on the pavement flying!" Blossom said.  
  
"That's certainly a hell of a lot better than some people-"  
  
"STOP FIGHTING" Bubbles shrieked, jumping up from her own seat, yet still looking down at the table.  
  
"I know you agree with me Bubbles-" Buttercup began to say.  
  
"ENOUGH!" the professor had suddenly thrown his paper onto the table and looked at all three of them angrily. The three girls fell silent, watching the professor with an awed horror. He was not fun when he got angry with them.  
  
"There will be not another word of this. Blossom is right, there will be no more crime-fighting for you," he said calmly, but the veins were still throbbing in his temples.  
  
"Ha," Blossom said curtly.  
  
"But Professor! I need to put these muscles to good use-"  
  
"Buttercup." He said very simply, and she took that as her cue to shut up. It was a good few minutes before any of them spoke. "Do you remember what happened when you first used your powers in Townsville?"  
  
"Yes, but that was different! They. eventually liked us." Buttercup argued.  
  
"That was Townsville Buttercup, nobody knows about Townsville. This city is much too commercial for that-" Blossom began to say but the Professor threw her a glance that she couldn't quite read.  
  
"I'd rather you three lived like normal girls. This city, well, they may not react the same. I don't want anything happening to you girls," he said. He was slowly calming. Bubbles finally managed to look up from the cereal bowl and gave the professor a huge watery stare. Buttercup looked positively livid.  
  
"Besides, Townsville wasn't as widely known as this city is. In Townsville we were more secluded. Here? Let's just say you three may catch the attention of someone you may not want to be watching." strangely enough, as the professor said this he suddenly acted as if he'd lost interest in the entire conversation. He began to busy himself with folding the paper, making it seem like nothing had just happened, but the three girls threw glances at each other. There was something important about his last sentence, but what it was exactly, they could only guess at this point.  
  
"I'm going to school," Buttercup said forcefully, standing from the table with such force she nearly knocked her chair to the floor. As she walked past Blossom she paused, and looked up at her red headed sister standing in the doorframe. She didn't say anything, but sighed, and then continued walking.  
  
"Bye Professor!" Bubbles said quickly, jumping up and leaving enough time for her to give him a huge hug and kiss on the cheek. She flew past Blossom in a flurry of blonde hair and giggles, finally leaving her and the professor alone.  
  
"Erm- Professor?" Blossom asked meekly.  
  
"Hmm?" he responded, grabbing his workbag that had been sitting on the floor next to him.  
  
"Well, what exactly did you mean by-"  
  
"Just remember what I said Blossom. I want you three to stay out of the spotlight."  
  
"Why?"  
  
The Professor walked towards her, landing a hand gently on her shoulder.  
  
"My you girls have grown so much," he said softly, and then he moved past her to leave. Blossom was left standing in the doorway alone, more miserable then she'd ever felt in the morning. 


	2. Part two

Inner Turmoil-Chapter 2  
  
Professor Utonium was lecturing his students, but his heart clearly was not in it. The class was in the middle of a very important lab experiment dealing with elephant DNA. None pf the students had really let on that they noticed his obvious preoccupation, but it was even starting to grate on his own nerves.  
  
"Make sure you change each pipette tube between each sample. That reduces the risk of contamination and it keeps the DNA sample pure." he droned. The class was watching him with mild interest. "Er- carry on class. You can begin now."  
  
He turned as the class began its own experiment. There were no worries, simply because they knew exactly what to do. It was a good class, very efficient and independent, which was just what the professor needed right now.  
  
Ever since they'd moved to the new city the girls had been very antsy. He knew very well they understood why they shouldn't be flaunting their powers in public, but he wondered if they knew how terrible it would be if they did. It wasn't so much the city he was worried about. Professor Utonium had worked in Seattle very briefly earlier in his career, and the people were friendly, and quite used to odd public outbursts. Seattle was notorious for that sort of thing.  
  
Seattle was the center of many bustling corporations that ruled world markets. There was Boeing, Microsoft, Starbucks and Nintendo; sure that was all well and good but the professor's past employers was what bothered him.  
  
Just fresh out of college, Professor Utonium's old instructor had gotten him into a small position at a then, growing pharmaceutical company that specialized in various medical remedies. At first, being a Biochemistry major, genetics, the professor wondered what he was supposed to be doing. He'd been studying the effects the drugs had on human proteins, when he was put on the job of a more sensitive nature.  
  
A division of the company called White Hazard was doing research on human performance enhancers, more specifically, the effects that Xantium radiation had on human abilities. It was widely known among the corporation that Xantium, or Chemical X, could be used to enhance human abilities, but to what extent? That was the purpose of Professor Utonium's newly appointed research position. Beginning with a human embryo, how does Chemical X radiation change aspects of a human being later in life?  
  
That was when things had gotten tough, because all of his morals had been tested. He suspected that what White Hazard was doing had been wrong, but he'd really had no choice. He couldn't get out, because he'd already gotten himself in too deep.  
  
My girls. he thought drearily, running a hand through his dark hair. The results had been astounding. Though the test subjects had been in very early stages of life, comparable to a human five year old, they demonstrated amazing capabilities. They had increased brain activity, meaning they were highly intelligent and well spoken for their age. well, that tidbit had been theorized because they'd been in stasis all their life.  
  
Superhuman muscle strength was also an apparent side effect, as was the ability to gather highly charged electrons in the pupils and exert it with the force of powerful energy beams.  
  
They could also harness the power of fire, wind, electricity and even sound, and use it as a weapon against an enemy. Also was the ability to counter the influence of gravity, giving the subjects the power of flight. Little did they know at that point, that over time the gravity counter- effect would wear off due to the normal growth of the subjects.  
  
There was however, still the ability to use their muscle power to launch into the air for extended periods of time. Gravity would eventually take effect and make them fall back to the earth unscathed, but it was still more than enough power to enable them to leap incredible distances.  
  
There were various other abilities that were minor, mostly all having to do with their strength and rapid healing, and there were even some that didn't come into play until later in their lives. They were strong, agile and fast; the perfect fighters.  
  
But then there had been an accident. The subjects had been awoken prematurely. Professor Utonium had been the only one who hadn't fled. He'd had no choice but to take the subjects himself, feeding them a fake story as to how they were born to make it easier to keep their existence hidden from White Hazard, and also to protect their delicate minds.  
  
To this day the girls still didn't know. He'd moved the girls to what he thought had been a safe location, Townsville, but over time that had proved to be false. It had come the time when leaving Townsville was necessary, and the professor had taken the only job available to him, which just happened to be in the same town as White Hazard had been. Professor Utonium wasn't sure if the company was even still around.  
  
Something knocked Professor Utonium from his wanderings. He looked up towards the door and saw a tall, impressive man framing the doorway. He was wearing a black business suit, with his gray hair neatly gelled down to his scalp. The man stood in the doorway to the classroom, checked his expensive watch, and then looked at the professor expectantly. Professor Utonium was baffled. He'd never seen the man before.  
  
"Yes, can I help you?" he asked warily, not sure what impression the man was trying to make. His aged face erupted into a smile.  
  
"I wondered if I could have a word. James isn't it?" he said coolly. His demeanor was very business-like and professional, but Professor Utonium kept thinking of a snake oil salesman.  
  
"Yes, it's professor Utonium. Um, why don't we step outside then," he responded. He moved past the man and into the hallway. The man followed and closed the classroom door behind him. "I'm sorry I didn't catch your name."  
  
"Ah," the man said quickly. "The name's Doctor Alex Levigne," he said, extending his hand for a shake. This whole situation was rather suspicious. Professor Utonium took his hand, and was startled by Levigne's very firm, warm grip. "I suppose your wondering exactly who I am aren't you?"  
  
"Well that's the general idea," said the professor. The man paused for a few moments, as if carefully choosing his words, all the while eyeing the professor very strangely.  
  
"I've heard quite a bit about your research."  
  
"Come again?" the professor said, growing increasingly alarmed.  
  
"I suppose you're playing coy with me. That's fine, but if you must know Mr. Utonium, some very important people are keeping an eye on you. and your. daughters, shall we say?"  
  
"What are you talking about?" he growled.  
  
"Professor please, there's no reason to become violent."  
  
"I know who you are now. If you so much as lay a finger on any of them, I swear-"  
  
"In time professor, your girls may want to know exactly where they come from," Levigne said. For a minute the professor didn't say anything, because inside he did agree. He couldn't keep the same story going forever, because sooner or later he knew that, Blossom most likely, would ask him about the truth. "Mr. Utonium, if I understand correctly, our subjects had quite a track record at your former residence." Levigne's eyes glittered with glee.  
  
"You knew about that?"  
  
"Of course we did Professor. We have ways of getting our information-"  
  
"I want you to get the hell away from my class right now," the professor said very sternly. He looked the bulky man straight in the eye, trying his best to look firm, despite the fact that this man was a bit bigger than him. The man was clearly not intimidated.  
  
"Mark my words Professor Utonium, your girls will fall back into our hands by any means. They have weaknesses, and we will find them. It's just a bit too dangerous having these little freaks running around-"  
  
The professor couldn't contain himself. He had suddenly lashed out and seized the man by his collar, slamming him against the wall. There was no visible trace of fear in Levigne's weathered eyes. Instead, he smiled broadly and chuckled. There was something very familiar about this man's demeanor. It almost seemed like he was playing a game.  
  
"Please Mr. Utonium. There is no need for this kind of behavior. We are both grown men after all."  
  
"No, I'm not an evil son of a bitch, unlike you. Stay away," the professor spat, letting go of Levigne's shirtfront. Levigne raised his eyebrows and smoothed out his shirt. He once again caught the professor's angered gaze in an expression of supreme interest.  
  
"I'm sure they could do with a small reunion, wouldn't you say?" he laughed, and for a split second Professor Utonium saw something very evil flash across the man's eyes, something that seemed very familiar. "See you soon, Professor." And with that he walked away, leaving the professor completely ruffled. This was not good at all.  
  
That man worked for White Hazard, definitely, but how could he possibly have known about Towsnville?  
  
Professor Utonium watched Levigne walk away down the school corridor, with a rising feeling of dread. Something was going to happen, but what exactly he was unsure of. Whatever did end up happening, would the girls be ready for it? Would he? 


	3. Part three

Inner Turmoil-Chapter 3  
  
It was already past nine by the time Blossom began walking home. It was incredibly dark as a result of the moon's absence in the sky, and a good many of the streetlights were burned out. The thick blackness did make her just slightly nervous. It closed around her like a thick blanket, making her feel very isolated and alone. Of course, there really wasn't anything to worry about seeing as she could easily take down any kind of attacker, but it was just the possibility of some kind of confrontation that made her wary.  
  
She walked briskly, letting the cool summer breeze ruffle her long hair. Despite her cautious nature, she felt just slightly elated at the moment. School was over for the summer and the break from grueling homework and school activities was a welcome change. With a light grunt she repositioned her side bag on her shoulders. End of the year locker cleaning was an absolute bitch. There was at least a semester worth of junk crammed into her otherwise meager sized bag.  
  
Blossom was in the middle of thinking about what she'd make for dinner when something made her stop in her tracks. Her programmed instincts had suddenly kicked in, telling her that she wasn't alone. She had stopped just in front of a neighborhood park, now bathed in the complete blackness of a thick forest area.  
  
Heart thundering, breath shuddering, she peered into the infinite blackness, willing her eyes to see. She screwed her eyes up tight, allowing her pupils to shrink to mere pinpoints in order to allow her enhanced optical perception to kick in. Squinting, she scanned the darkness in front of her, relieved that she couldn't see anything of immediate danger.  
  
No it's nothing. It's just an animal, she thought quickly in an effort to calm herself. Yes, just an animal, one that she could feel watching her from the shadows. Blossom started walking again, suddenly more eager than ever to get to the safety of her own home. Everything that had made her happy just moments before had been erased from her mind. Strangely enough, she was now thinking about her dream. That certainly didn't make her feel any calmer.  
  
Blossom could feel her body reacting to the danger she felt. She really couldn't explain why she felt endangered, but didn't want to hang around and find out. She was very alert now, her heart pounding and muscles tense, ready to run-  
  
-There was a faint whisper all around her. She stopped instantly, whirling around with her arms up, ready to fight an attacker. There was none, but in mere seconds a lazy breeze caught her hair again.  
  
Yes. It's just the wind, that's all. Sometimes it can sound like voices.  
  
"Who's there?" she said softly, mostly to herself more than anything. There was of course, no response.  
  
Then she felt a sudden on rush of terror that she couldn't explain, as if something carried in the wind had decided to jump out and attack her. She looked around her, trying to find some source of this distress, but she didn't see a thing. There was no visible explanation as to why her body had just told her to flee. For a few moments she remained standing in the middle of the street, feeling the fear induce shivers down her spine. There was something very familiar on the wind. Something evil.  
  
Then just as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone.  
  
Blossom began running towards her home, not at all wanting to wait for whatever it was to show up again. Something had been there watching her, and strangely enough Blossom had the feeling it knew exactly who it was watching.  
  
Ten minutes later she crashed into her front door, pausing to allow herself breathing time. It wouldn't look good for her to waltz in looking utterly terrified.  
  
She took a deep breath, straightened her hair and opened the front door, making sure to lock it behind her. She set her bag down by the coat hangers and walked into the living room. Bubbles was sitting there reading a rather huge novel, and she looked up as soon as Blossom walked in.  
  
"Oh, I need to talk to you," she said quickly, throwing the book onto the cushion beside her. The cordless phone was also sitting there. Bubbles looked completely rattled.  
  
"What is it?" Blossom asked quickly, having a faint idea at what it could be.  
  
"I need to warn you. Buttercup is fuming," she said softly. The look on her face told Blossom that Bubbles had already had a rather hurtful confrontation with her green-eyes sister.  
  
"Oh, so what else is new?" Blossom said casually. "Did you guys argue again?"  
  
"Well, that did happen, but only because she was already in a bad mood in the first place. Why does she always pick on me." Bubbles trailed off, her last sentence was more of a thought to herself.  
  
"Oh, she picks on me too. That's just her way of expressing herself when something's bothering her."  
  
"She likes to put everyone else in a bad mood with her," Bubbles answered.  
  
"Uh huh. Now, what should I make for dinner? Professor's going to be home any minute now." Blossom said, walking towards the kitchen. "You know what, I tell you this all the time. Just stay out of her way when she's like this. It's no use asking her what's wrong, because she always pretends it's nothing," Blossom sighed. "Why is she so stubborn?" she asked herself. Bubbles followed her into the kitchen.  
  
"She can't find her boxing glove. That's what's wrong. I told her I thought the professor put it in a box in the basement. There's still loads of stuff we never unpacked," Bubbles said, taking a seat at the kitchen table. Blossom began rummaging in the pantry looking for some boxed spaghetti.  
  
"Is that all? Did you tell her it would be a good idea to actually go look for it herself? It isn't going to jump out of the box and take itself to her," Blossom said, putting the noodles on the counter as she went to go fetch a pot from the drawer.  
  
"Yeah." Bubbles sighed. "So, what's wrong with you?"  
  
Blossom froze for a split second, accidentally allowing the pot to overflow with water in the sink. The sudden gush of water onto her arms finally brought her back to her senses.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You did crash into the front door. The entire house shook."  
  
"Oh-er-I was just running and didn't stop in time," Blossom lied. There was silence for a few seconds.  
  
"Did you feel it too?" Bubbles asked, the smallest hint of fear in her otherwise cheerful voice. Blossom turned to look at her sister for a moment. Her face seemed even, but her breathing trembled.  
  
"What?!" Blossom cried in surprise. Blossom must have been advertising her worries on her face, because Bubbles seemed to know exactly what had happened. All three of them had a habit of reading each other pretty accurately.  
  
"I-well-that's why I crashed off my horse at lessons a few days ago. Something had spooked Ringo. I felt it too. Someone was watching me that I couldn't see," Bubbles breathed. Blossom turned and looked at her as the water began to boil on the stove.  
  
"You said you'd missed the jump," Blossom said, raising a delicate eyebrow.  
  
"I know, but that was a lie. I thought I'd gone nutty or something. I mean- nothing particularly evil has happened since we left Townsville. I thought it was perhaps a relapse of a memory or something," Bubbles sniffed. Blossom sighed.  
  
"I was walking home and I thought something was watching me. Coulda' been an animal or something. There was lots of trees around-"  
  
"But it felt evil didn't it?"  
  
They both stood there in awkward silence. Blossom looked at the floor, tracing the patterns of the tiles with her eyes. She honestly didn't know what to say. Bubbles was right, it had felt evil. The pot of water began to bubble violently, sending droplets of sizzling water in every direction. Blossom rushed to turn it off, thankful for a reason to break the tension.  
  
"It's probably nothing. Just a memory like you said, that's all.could you hand me the spaghetti sauce please." Blossom said, very careful to keep her voice calm. She looked at her hands, horrified, to find that she was shaking. She stuffed them behind her back as Bubbles came towards her with a jar of red substance. There was a very odd look in her eyes that Blossom hadn't seen in years. It was the confusion of a small child.  
  
"What would happen. if say. and enemy followed us here? What would we do?" she said, handing Blossom the jar of sauce. Blossom set it down onto the counter and looked at the jar for a little while, trying to think of a response. She hoped Bubbles just thought she was reading the label. She gave the only honest answer she had,  
  
"I don't know."  
  
At that moment Buttercup came stomping into the kitchen.  
  
"Where's Professor?" she said quickly. There was an obvious hint of anger in her voice. She scanned the room eagerly as if expected the professor to be standing right there.  
  
"Honestly Buttercup, you could just go look in the basement yourself," Blossom said. "Afraid of a few spiders?"  
  
"No! There's tons of stuff down there and it could take me all night! There's still boxes down there Professor says he wants to go through first. Important stuff. The last thing I want to do is piss him off!"  
  
"Look, I know it's in one of the boxes labeled toys. I think it's the one next to the cabinet. Just go get it yourself. Why on earth would the professor put his important things in a box labeled toys?"  
  
"Augh." Buttercup fumed, and then she stormed out of the room. Blossom heard the basement door open, and then slam shut a few seconds later. In a far part of the house she heard something crash to the floor.  
  
"We really should do something about that temper of hers," Blossom mumbled. Bubbles suddenly perked up.  
  
"Professor's home!" she shrieked. Her normally child-like demeanor had returned. Bubbles ran from the kitchen into the living room, and a few seconds later Blossom heard the front door fly open, then,  
  
"What's wrong?!" Bubbles cried from the other room. There was no answer, and a few seconds later Blossom heard the professor walk into the kitchen. Oddly enough he didn't say anything to her, he merely walked up behind her in an effort to see what she was doing. Blossom turned, surprised to see his face look so worn.  
  
"Ahh. it's nothing, nothing. I'm just preoccupied a bit.were there any phone calls?"  
  
"Um, no, not since I've been home," Blossom said, looking up at him. He was still over a foot taller than her. He didn't just look tired, but he also looked slightly harassed.  
  
"Yeah, a man called asking for you. He didn't sound familiar so I told him you were busy," Bubbles said, now holding the cordless in her hands. Blossom could tell she was hiding the fact that she, like herself, was actually worried about something. Bubbles caught Blossom's gaze, and in that brief exchange, they both agreed it was not the best time to tell the professor about what was bothering them.  
  
The professor spun around.  
  
"Did he say who he was?!" he blurted, surprising Blossom enough to make her splatter tomato sauce all over the counter. "Oh, sorry honey. Let me help you clean that up." He began walking around the room aimlessly, obviously looking for towels, but behaving as if he'd never been in the kitchen before.  
  
"Um, they're right here Professor," Blossom said cautiously, pointing to a drawer that was directly to her left.  
  
"Yes, of course. Seemed to have slipped my mind that's all." he trailed off, grabbing a white towel. He looked back at Bubbles expectantly. She was staring at him with a mix of fear and confusion. Blossom agreed he was definitely being weird.  
  
"Er- no, he just said he'd try back later."  
  
Satisfied the professor turned his attention to the spilled tomato sauce, which Blossom had already cleaned up.  
  
"Did you get any on you?" he asked quickly.  
  
"No, I'm good," Blossom smiled. The professor nodded, put the towel back into the drawer then walked from the room. Blossom thought she heard the professor mumble something under his breath, but she wasn't paying close enough attention to hear it. She could have, with super sensitive hearing, but only when she willed it. This wasn't the best time to eavesdrop on the professor because he was clearly distressed. Bubbles acted confused too; she clearly hadn't heard either.  
  
They both exchanged glances, and Bubbles mouthed a very emphatic, what was that all about? Blossom shrugged.  
  
"Go get Buttercup will. you." Blossom began to say, but Buttercup had already walked into the kitchen, still without her lost boxing glove. She didn't look angry anymore, but instead her eyes held a haunted expression.  
  
"Where's the professor?" she blurted suddenly, the fear leaving her eyes to be replaced by a fiery tension.  
  
"He just left the room. I wouldn't bother him though. He's acting really funny."  
  
But Buttercup had run from the room before Blossom could even finish what she was saying. She heard the door to Buttercup's room slam, and then there was silence in the house. Bubbles burst into tears.  
  
"Oh! Why is e-everyone acting s-s-so f-f-unny?!" she wailed, tearing away from the kitchen to her own room in a shower of muffled sobs. Dinner was going to be really awkward that night. 


	4. Part four

Inner Turmoil- Chapter 4  
  
Just as Blossom had suspected, dinner was in fact an uncomfortable affair. Bubbles spent the entire evening dabbing her blotchy face with her napkin. Every once in a while she'd sniffle, then fall back into silence.  
  
The professor had changed his attitude again from distant obliviousness to being overly cheerful. With exaggerated gusto he asked how their last day at school had been and commented on how delicious the dinner was. He was clearly making up for his strange behavior earlier by masking the fact that he was really troubled. Blossom and Bubbles still didn't say anything about the conversation they'd had earlier.  
  
Buttercup didn't even come down to dinner, despite Blossom's frequent calls up the stairs. She'd never answered, but Blossom had known better than to burst into her room when she was acting this way. Despite the fact that they were sisters, Buttercup had never been afraid to attack them when the time called for it.  
  
Blossom ate her own dinner in silence, completely at a loss for words. Mostly, she thought about what had happened to her earlier as she'd walked home, going over thoroughly what Bubbles had told her and what her own experience had been. What troubled Blossom was the fact that Bubbles had also sensed something evil and was clearly worried about it. So was she.  
  
What would they do if something had followed them from Townsville? Was it a former enemy coming to finish the job?  
  
Impossible, Blossom thought, they'd never been able to beat us before. Why would they suddenly think they could now? We've only gotten stronger as we've grown-  
  
-Yes, but what if this enemy has gotten stronger as well; more wised up to your strengths. and weaknesses?  
  
"No!" she said out loud. She hadn't meant to blurt out what she'd been thinking, but she'd caught the attention of the professor and Bubbles, who looked at her curiously.  
  
"I just spilled on myself that's all," Blossom lied. She got up from the table trying to be as elusive as she could, because she hadn't really spilled anything.  
  
"Don't worry about your plate, I'll clean it up," the professor said happily, getting up from his own seat and moving towards the sink. Bubbles looked at Blossom with a huge, childish blue stare. Her faint eyebrows were scrunched up in worry. Blossom returned her expression, and then moved from the kitchen to the stairs.  
  
As she was walking towards her room something caught her attention. It was coming from Buttercup's room. It sounded as if she was repeatedly hitting something with a pillow. The sound was dull and quiet. Blossom went to her door and knocked. There was no response, but feeling fed up with her sister, Blossom opened the door anyway.  
  
"What's wrong with you?" she asked forcefully. Buttercup stopped doing whatever had been keeping her occupied and turned. She'd clearly been hitting her bed with her recently found boxing glove.  
  
"It was under my bed the whole time," Buttercup said coolly. "Nothin's wrong."  
  
"Yes there is. You can say there isn't until hell freezes over, but I know you too well-"  
  
"You don't know a thing about me. Or even yourself for that matter!" Buttercup suddenly shouted. Blossom was taken aback.  
  
"Of course I do. I know all about you. and I certainly know all about myself!" she retorted. Buttercup walked towards her swiftly, and Blossom suddenly thought she was going to get punched in the face.  
  
"Sure. Right. Whatever." Was all Buttercup said. She narrowed her eyes.  
  
"WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!" Blossom screamed. All the anger and tension she'd felt the entire day suddenly had to come out.  
  
"NOTHING!"  
  
"WHATEVER!"  
  
"GET OUT OF MY ROOM!"  
  
"NO! NOT UNTIL YOU TELL ME WHAT'S UP YOUR ASS!"  
  
Buttercup suddenly lunged at her, throwing Blossom onto the floor heavily with a muffled grunt. Buttercup had her pinned to the ground, and pulled her fist back to punch. She caught Blossom squarely in the jaw, which hurt pretty badly considering Buttercup's Chemical X induced strength.  
  
Blossom screamed angrily and threw Buttercup off with her legs in retaliation, trying to shake the stars out of her vision. The next moment Blossom was trying to stand, dazed by the incredible blow, but Buttercup had charged towards her again, this time grabbing Blossom by the hair.  
  
"OWOWOWOWOW!"  
  
"I'LL RIP EVERY HAIR OUT OF YOUR HEAD!"  
  
Blossom could taste blood in her mouth.  
  
"GET OFF ME YOU STUBBORN BITCH!"  
  
By that time they had attracted a crowd. Bubbles was framed in the doorway, sobbing with horror. The professor looked absolutely livid. He stormed into the room, grabbed Buttercup firmly by the nap of her neck and threw her off Blossom. Blossom yelped in pain as she felt a good amount of her hair leave her scalp.  
  
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" the professor screamed at Buttercup. She wasn't staring at him with remorse, but was glaring at him with pure loathing. She didn't answer him. Bubbles had moved into the room to help Blossom get up, gingerly touching her scalp with sisterly concern.  
  
"ANSWER ME!"  
  
Buttercup kept her mouth shut. For a minute, Blossom was afraid the professor would go so far as to hit Buttercup for her blatantly rude behavior. He loomed over her ominously, but Buttercup just stared back blankly.  
  
"Why do you constantly insist on beating up your sisters?!" the professor said, voice shaking with rage.  
  
Buttercup didn't answer. She kept staring at the professor as if she was staring at the late Mojo Jojo. Pure unbridled hatred. Buttercup had never looked at him that way before.  
  
"Well?!"  
  
Silence.  
  
"ANSWER ME!"  
  
Silence.  
  
"Do you want to be thrown out of this house? Trust me, I'll do it-"  
  
"Why should I? All you ever do is lie," Buttercup spat, pushing past all three of them into the hallway. The Professor stood exactly where he was, completely aghast at what had just been said to him. Buttercup's last comment had been completely irrelevant, but incredibly hurtful at the same time.  
  
Buttercup had gone into the bathroom, because a few seconds later they heard the bathwater running. Clever. The Professor wouldn't dare go in there if she were in the bath.  
  
"You two better go to your rooms," the professor said slowly. He actually sounded mournful. Was he going to cry?  
  
"Professor, I-" Blossom began to apologize. It had been partly her fault.  
  
"Just do as I say, please," he whispered, his voice shaking.  
  
"Come on Blossom," Bubbles said, and with Bubbles's arm still around Blossom's shoulder they left the room. Blossom hugged her sister, and then mumbled something about going to bed. They parted ways and Blossom didn't bother to turn her lights on as she walked into the room.  
  
She lied down on her bed, too saddened to bother changing, and began to stare out her window. She was unwilling to go to sleep, and unwilling to face her dream again. Blossom was also very shaken at the fight she'd just had with her sister. They'd had physical fights before, but Buttercup had always held back to some degree.  
  
This time though, she had been surprisingly violent, and clearly wanted to let out some of her mysterious stress on her sister. Blossom didn't doubt that she'd really meant she was going to rip all her hair out.  
  
Buttercup had stayed in the bathroom for a long time. Once, Blossom heard the professor walk past her room to go downstairs, sniffling and mumbling to himself about being sorry. Soon she heard Buttercup leave the bathroom and then go into her own room, closing the door behind her. Blossom was fairly certain Buttercup was going to lock the door.  
  
Soon, Blossom began to doze off, watching the outlines of the trees outside her window make funny shapes on her walls. They almost looked like a pack of monsters dancing outside her room, and once she could swear she saw the outline of their old nemesis Him in the shadows. She slept peacefully for a while, and then sure enough she began to dream.  
  
Long hallway, running, panting, not fast enough-  
  
-Can't breath, throat is being crushed.  
  
Very familiar. I know who you are. Who?! What do you want?!  
  
Then a new terror, one she'd never experienced before.  
  
There was a faint outline of horrible eyes, watching her die. cold, cruel laughter, imprinting on her mind.  
  
She tried to scream or struggle, but she couldn't. She wasn't strong enough. not anymore.  
  
???  
  
Anymore?  
  
There was pain all over her body; she felt a rush of something leaving her. blood. she was bleeding to death.  
  
Cruel laughter. cackling. gleeful. enjoying watching her die. so familiar.  
  
For the first time since Blossom had begun having her dream, she woke up screaming in terror. 


	5. Part five

Inner Turmoil-Chapter 5  
  
Blossom's room was suddenly flooded with light as Professor Utonium rushed into the room to see what the commotion was. Blossom was on her bed, fully dressed, but she was also thrashing around, screaming in horror.  
  
"Blossom! BLOSSOM!" he cried out, clearly alarmed at the state of Blossom's enhanced emotional distress. He ran over to her bed and grabbed her arms in an attempt to calm her, which was quite a challenge in itself seeing as how much stronger Blossom naturally was. Blossom's entire body was covered in a moist layer of sweat, and her young face was molded in tortured sobs, tears pouring from her eyes.  
  
After a few seconds she stopped thrashing, but she was now trembling violently. The professor lifted her up gently and put his arms around her tightly, rubbing her head gently as she continued to whimper softly.  
  
"It was just a bad dream, you're okay now, " he cooed. Blossom was clearly alert now, because she mumbled something into the professor's white work shirt between gasping sobs. He didn't hear her, but thought it wasn't appropriate to ask her what she'd said.  
  
Bubbles had rushed into the room just as soon as the professor had, and she stood next to the professor, her hair out of her pigtails and her plush Octi squeezed in her arms. Strangely enough, Blossom's agony had attracted Buttercup out of her room as well, and she clearly had not been asleep at all. Buttercup remained in the doorway, watching Blossom with interest.  
  
"Professor?" Bubbles asked tentatively. Professor Utonium looked up at Bubbles and risked a light smile, his own heart still beating madly from the scare.  
  
"She just had a nightmare, that's all. I was so scared that." he trailed off again, something he'd done a lot that previous day. It was now four A.M.  
  
Blossom sniffed and gently pulled away from the professor's grasp. She wiped the tears roughly from her wet cheeks and let out a shaky sigh to calm herself. She was still trembling, but obviously aware that she was in no real danger. Blossom looked at the professor who was watching her, concerned, and for a second she felt a rush of loving gratitude towards her father.  
  
Blossom looked around her room. Convinced it was just the four of them, as it would naturally be, she turned back to the professor. He still watched her calmly, but there was a definite air of loving worry on his brow. He seemed like he was waiting for her to say something.  
  
"I want to talk." she mumbled.  
  
The professor nodded.  
  
And then Blossom told him about her dream, about how real it felt, and about how familiar the danger was. As she spoke, she began to think it was some sort of warning from her advanced sub consciousness, apparently sensing some sort of great peril on the horizon. Or perhaps Bubbles had been right; a relapse of memories so painful, it was causing her to feel them so vividly.  
  
Given the absence of using their abilities, perhaps memories were finding ways to soak through to her awareness, slowly becoming more and more real as time progressed. But the only thing was, nothing like her dream had ever actually happened to her before.  
  
That last dream had been different. It had been worse, much worse. Before, she could feel the presence of her attacker, but this time, she could definitely feel more. Hatred and evil. and malicious happiness as it hurt her. The dream had been more vivid, enough that it had caused her to wake up screaming.  
  
Blossom then told the professor about her elusive visitor the night before. She didn't say anything about Bubbles, out of respect for her sister's privacy.  
  
"You didn't see anybody? Are you sure?" he asked finally, after Blossom had finished talking.  
  
"Yes!" she cried, feeling slightly harassed and still a little disoriented.  
  
"Have any of you felt the same thing?" he asked, directing his question at both Bubbles and Buttercup. For a second Bubbles looked like she wasn't going to say anything.  
  
"I have," Bubbles said softly. She released Octi from her choking grasp and brought the stuffed toy level to her face. "A few days ago. but I haven't had any dreams."  
  
"What about you?" the professor turned to Buttercup standing in the doorway. She merely glared at him and snorted, then shook her head no. "You know Buttercup, I really think-"  
  
But Buttercup left the room before he could finish what he wanted to say. Blossom quickly put her hand on the professor's shoulder.  
  
"Professor, I'm sorry about earlier. It was mostly my fault. I shouldn't have started arguing with her in the first place," Blossom said. The professor shook his head and patted her hand gently with his own.  
  
"No, I don't think it's your fault. I think there's something else wrong with her that she isn't saying," he said, and then he stood to go. "I suppose you probably want to go back to sleep now."  
  
"No, actually, I don't think I'll be able to," said Blossom, "I think I'm just going to get up now- Professor, why are you already dressed?!" Blossom blurted very suddenly. She hadn't noticed at first that he was already dressed as if going to work.  
  
"Summer term did just start a few days ago, and I already feel like I'm behind," he said. Then he playfully rolled his eyes. "The head of the science department is just a bit too demanding for my taste. Grades have gotta' start coming in." And then he walked from the room, still talking even as his voice began fading away. Blossom knew he was lying again, because she could tell by the puffy bags under his normally cool brown eyes that he hadn't been sleeping.  
  
"Bubbles, wait. I want to talk to you," Blossom said, putting a hand on her sister's arm. Bubbles nodded and then sat herself on the edge of Blossom's bed. "Have you ever thought of asking him?"  
  
"Asking him what?" she asked, looking at Blossom quizzically. She then turned her attention to her old, ratty nightshirt and began folding out the creases in an effort to busy herself, or perhaps to avoid eye contact with Blossom.  
  
"What's wrong with him."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"Do you think it has anything to do with us?" Blossom asked her sister. Bubbles looked away from her shirt and began playing with Octi, swinging the toy forward and letting it fall back against her legs repeatedly.  
  
"I don't know," she finally answered. "Why would it?"  
  
"I wonder if he's worried about us being found. by maybe the government or something, wanting to use us as a weapon," Blossom said, risking a casual glance to the door to make sure nobody was there. The professor had gone into his room and shut the door.  
  
"That sounds silly," Bubbles giggled.  
  
"But it could be really serious. He's awfully keen on keeping us from using our powers. He wasn't this bad in Townsville, even in the beginning when the whole city thought we were psychotic."  
  
Thinking about the very beginning of their lives suddenly made Blossom very aware of the fact that the professor had been lying all along about their origins. Very suddenly she wanted to pop the question to him, but decided against it, knowing this wouldn't be one of the best times.  
  
"Have you ever wanted to ask him where we really came from? I mean, if he wants to hide us so much, then maybe there's more to our birth that he hasn't told us. Something serious even."  
  
"You mean he's trying to hide us from some sort of government agency?" Bubbles asked, turning back to her sister.  
  
"Well, no, not necessarily. But he's hiding us from something, that part is obvious. Ever since Buttercup started freaking out about wanting to save the day again, he's been acting really nervous about us being out in public. It's like he's worried we'll want to show off or something."  
  
"Like that game of tag?" Bubbles smiled. Yes, those memories were rather funny. That had been so long ago, 12 years in fact, but it seemed like it had only been a short while ago.  
  
"Well, maybe not that serious," Blossom sighed. "But he definitely doesn't want anyone to see us, but the question is, who specifically?"  
  
"Are you going to ask him? You are the one who's coming up with all this after all."  
  
"I don't know. at some point I suppose. just casually ask him where we really came from." Blossom said, sitting up from her bed. "Well, you go ahead and go back to sleep, I think I'm going to get up now."  
  
Bubbles nodded and left the room, leaving Blossom alone. She shut the door and turned back to face her entire room. She really wanted to just sit and think for a while. There was so much going on at the moment that was racing through her head: her dream, her stalker, Buttercup's actions and now the professor.  
  
She heard the professor come out of his room and head downstairs, and Blossom wondered if she should just come out and ask him today.  
  
Maybe not. Maybe she'd wait until there wasn't a whole bunch of crazy things happening.  
  
Then something crept into her mind. If something was really watching them, had Buttercup felt it too? She'd said no, but who was to say she wasn't lying? Is that why she was acting the way she was? Was she scared?  
  
Or did she find something out?  
  
The basement.  
  
A realization hit Blossom very suddenly. Buttercup had gone into the basement to look for her glove. She'd said the professor had things down there he didn't want them to look at-  
  
-What if Buttercup saw something she wasn't supposed to see, and she was now either angry or guilty about it. She was certainly acting very strangely towards the professor. Now she was saying things about not trusting him. That certainly seemed like a very Buttercup-like thing to do. But what exactly could she have seen that had made her so angry? She certainly seemed weirded out when she'd come back up from the basement, not to mention the fact that she had been ready to pound Blossom into a bloody pulp.  
  
Blossom had the urgent need to go down into the basement herself and look, perhaps see what Buttercup had seen. It would certainly shed some light on the otherwise clouded situation. It may also be easier to speak with Buttercup if they were on the same page. Maybe they could all get answers without having to come out and ask the professor, save him the humiliation and worry.  
  
A few minutes later she heard the professor walk back up the stairs, into his room, where he shut the door behind him. Now was as good a time as any.  
  
Very quietly she cracked open her door and peered out into the dim hallway. All the doors were closed, and no sound escaped into the hall whatsoever. Quickly Blossom crept out of her room and tiptoed downstairs, purposely jumping the last step, which had a tendency to creak. She landed with a soft thump on the plush carpet, and moved to the basement door.  
  
The tall wooden door seemed oddly beckoning, and Blossom was only too happy to oblige as she moved against it, gently turning the brass handle. It opened with a soft creak, which seemed strangely loud to her, but only because she was attempting to be stealthy. Not wanting to wait anymore, she quickly tiptoed down the basement stairs into the cold darkness of the open room.  
  
Blossom shuffled around, looking for the boxes she had told Buttercup about. The room was dusty and full of cobwebs. Tons of various unpacked boxes still sat waiting in the corners and against just about every space they could find. It was mostly the girls' stuff that they'd grown out of years ago, but the professor was too sentimental to chuck the stuff out.  
  
Then, against one of the far walls, she saw the jumble of boxes next to the old cabinet that had been stored away a long time ago. Blossom hurried over to where they sat, scanning them to find some sort of evidence of Buttercup's passing. Sure enough, one of the boxes had been opened just slightly. Perhaps Buttercup had tried to hide her snooping, but whatever the case she definitely had known she wasn't supposed to be in the box. It was clearly not labeled toys.  
  
Blossom got down on her knees and looked behind her to make sure the coast was clear. Thankfully, the view from the doorway was blocked just slightly by a support beam in the middle of the room. She turned back to the boxes and carefully opened the box, making sure not to bend the flimsy cardboard.  
  
When she opened it, the first thing she saw was a large, old folder that had been thrown haphazardly on the top of a pile of very important looking paper work. Blossom gingerly lifted the book out of the box in order to get a better look at the papers. They were obviously personal papers of the professors; past work that he'd done.  
  
Much of it was scribble of the professor's loopy handwriting; numbers and sketched graphs adorned many of the pages. At the top of each page there was a corporate symbol that Blossom just vaguely recognized as belonging to a pharmaceutical company. It was called Medical Communications, or Medicom for short, and Blossom had seen a lot of their products lying around the house; apparently perfectly harmless medicines. Why would the professor want to hide that? If he'd just worked for a drug company, what could be so bad about that?  
  
Blossom turned her attention back to the old folder she held and carefully opened it, careful not to jar any of the loose pages. Inside the folder were more notes and diagrams, quickly drawn and slightly sloppy. Blossom couldn't really understand any of it, but she did recognize some of the sketches as the double helix of DNA, complete with various labels and calculations.  
  
She continued to scan the pages, glancing at notes about blood chemistry levels and growth patterns; nothing seemed overly harmful that would freak Buttercup out. Then one particular thing caught her eye. There was writing about something called Xantium. Naturally Blossom knew what it was.  
  
"Chemical X," she said softly to herself. She leafed through more of the folder, trying to find more information. After a few pages and more notes about hormone levels and chemical analysis, she spotted a Polaroid picture. The photo itself was hard to make out because the colors had faded over the years, and it was a little splotchy given the poor quality of the film. Blossom could swear she saw three people in the photo-  
  
-No, three children, little children. lying motionless on an operating table.-  
  
-Blossom gasped out loud and dropped the book onto the ground in front of her as if she'd just found a huge insect in her hands. Her heart was pounding, her mind racing with a sudden realization. The children in the picture had most certainly been her and her sisters; the same hair colors and everything. That was why Buttercup had looked so lost when she'd come back up from the basement. She'd seen everything and clearly didn't know how to respond, except for treating the professor as if he was some sort of nasty slug that didn't deserve the time of day.  
  
It was true, he lied, but Blossom didn't think Buttercup was going about it the most appropriate way. Clearly they should ask him why he lied, but that was an entire ordeal all on it's own. It would be difficult, because Blossom saw the anguish in his eyes every time he looked at them, which had never been there until recently. It was clearly an emotional ordeal for him, and really had no malicious intent at all. He was trying to protect them from the truth, because he knew it would only hurt them.  
  
Plus, there was also the fact that they'd been snooping in his personal things that they really didn't have any business in at all.  
  
Then something shoved the entire ordeal out of her mind. She could hear with amazing precision, just down the hall, the professor walking towards the basement. In a worried haste Blossom scooped the folder back up from the floor and shoved it back into the box where it had been, forcefully folding the flaps of the box closed.  
  
"Blossom? What are you doing?" she heard him call from the doorway that led down to the basement. Numbly, Blossom fished around for some sort of excuse, then she spotted a half concealed stuffed animal in one of the boxes. She snatched it up very quickly, knocking the entire box over, sending squeaking plush toys and wooden blocks all over the floor with a mighty crash in front of her.  
  
"I-er- was just looking for. this!" she chimed nervously, jumping out from behind the pillar so she was in full view. She held the stuffed animal out in front of her for him to see. It was one of Bubbles's old toys; a rather shabby looking unicorn plush that had at one time been white, but now looked like a mix between brown and yellow.  
  
The professor stood at the top of the steps with his hands on his hips, but he didn't look angry at all. Blossom let out a huge breath of air when she saw his face. He bought it. "I, thought maybe I could do for a little comfort at night," Blossom smiled. The professor looked at her incredulously.  
  
"Yeah, well you might want to clean it up a bit first. It looks terrible," he said. And then he walked away. Blossom watched him disappear from the doorframe and let out another huge sigh. That had been incredibly close. If he'd found out what she was doing, she would have been in so much trouble.  
  
Blossom left the basement with the stuffed animal in her hands, and headed to the laundry room. Might as well wash it, since that's what she'd led the professor to believe she was doing. Her thoughts turned back to what she'd found.  
  
Medicom was nothing more than a pharmaceutical company that made over the counter drugs. What would they have been doing with genetic research, and more importantly, why had the professor been working there? Was there something about the company nobody knew about? Clearly, they had been doing something shady, because it wasn't often that a major corporation crafted bioweapons for the good of humanity. What was the horrible accident that the professor refused to talk about? What had happened exactly that had put Blossom and her sisters under his care?  
  
It was clearly time for a trip to the library to do some research on the company, but when Blossom would be able to find time for that she didn't know. She'd have to be discreet about the whole thing.  
  
Blossom threw the dirty unicorn into the washer and started the machine, still thinking about the corporation and what she'd try to find at the library when her thoughts suddenly turned to Buttercup.  
  
Blossom knew she'd have to calm her some way. It was clear that the information she'd found had caused her to seriously distrust their adopted father, but Blossom was eager to get her to change her mind. That however, was quite the daunting task, being the stubborn girl she was. Blossom would have to prove to her that the professor had only been doing what he thought would be the best for them. That could take some work, and possibly some pain.  
  
Not wanting to go back to her room, Blossom decided to go lay on the couch for a while and think things through. She was very careful not to fall asleep again. 


	6. Part six

Inner Turmoil-Chapter 6  
  
A few days later the sky was alive with the brightest colors the girls had ever seen. Huge explosions and pops filled their ears as they watched the dazzling light show on the side of a lake.  
  
The fourth of July had come with little to make the girls worried. The past few days had been entirely uneventful, and Blossom still hadn't had time to sneak over to the library for some undercover research. But, this day was a day to celebrate, and Blossom wanted to push everything out of her mind for the time being.  
  
The bright colors launching into the sky reminded Blossom of days past, when the three of them could fly high into the air, leaving trails of sparkling color behind them as they laughed together. It made her miss, just slightly, the old crime-fighting days, and she imagined fondly that the three of them were five years old again, patrolling the skies of Townsville in streaks of pink, green and blue.  
  
But they couldn't fly like that anymore, and patrolling for crime had gotten to be a dangerous affair, causing the professor to suddenly panic and whisk them out of the city to grow up in a safer place. But that was history.  
  
Blossom sat next to the professor on the big blanket they'd brought to the park, her head resting lightly on his shoulder so she could look skyward with comfort. Bubbles sat on the other side of the professor, his arm wrapped securely around her shoulder and her own head also lying gently on his chest.  
  
Buttercup was of course still not speaking to him, but at this point the professor had given up trying to reason with her in order to let her cool down on her own. Whether or not it was working, Buttercup did a good job hiding it.  
  
The professor was going through a lot of trouble to be overly nice to her, offering to buy her snacks and sweets whenever the other girls had wanted some, but she'd always refused with a very fierce shake of the head.  
  
Whenever they'd walked anywhere, Buttercup had been dutifully careful to walk at least ten feet away from them, shuffling with both of her hands shoved into her pockets.  
  
If Blossom had wanted to make eye contact for scolding that would have been impossible, because Buttercup never looked at anything but her own two feet. She now sat on the edge of the blanket away from them, and appeared to be looking at her hands instead of the fireworks.  
  
The fireworks ended with an amazing finale, and more than twice Bubbles had started laughing with glee. Buttercup made no motion to signal that she'd been watching. With a light shrug she stood up as the professor prepared to fold the blanket up so they could go home.  
  
"Independence Day has always been my favorite holiday of the year. You know one of my great-great-great. great grandfathers was here in America during the war. I believed he served under George Washington himself," the professor said lightly as he tucked the large blanket under his arm. He looked at both Blossom and Bubbles. Bubbles was looking at him like a very soft kitten, wide-eyed and smitten, while Blossom looked positively thrilled over the history lesson. Buttercup had already started walking away and had nearly disappeared into the crowd.  
  
"Buttercup! Don't get lost!" Blossom called out to her. Buttercup halted and didn't even bother to turn around. She remained standing where she was in the middle of the grass and let the crowds of people wash over her in a hurry to beat the traffic.  
  
"Do you think it's about time I say something to her? This is getting ridiculous," the Professor said quickly as they began walking after her. He looked at Blossom as if she was the one to go to for advice, which she usually was.  
  
"Nah, I think this is actually an improvement. I haven't fought with her once since she's been acting like this," Blossom giggled. Bubbles chimed in,  
  
"She hasn't called me any mean names for days!"  
  
The professor was silent for a few beats, then, "Are you sure?"  
  
"Yes, Professor. I think at some point she'll realize she needs you and she'll come around. Trust me. It's what I would do if I was acting like her. which I never am." Blossom said sweetly, and the professor ruffled a hand through her already wind-tussled hair. She looked at him with an expression of pure gratitude.  
  
"Well, since the house is boring, who's up for something sweet?" said the professor as they made it to where Buttercup was still standing.  
  
"MEEEEE!" Bubbles cried enthusiastically. She began tugging very affectionately on his sleeve.  
  
"After all, this is a day to celebrate your great-great-great-great-great-"  
  
"-Okay, Blossom."  
  
"Great-great-great grandfather's victory!" Blossom laughed, very loudly, elbowing her raven-haired sister very hard in the ribs as she did so. Buttercup clicked her tongue in blatant annoyance and pushed herself away lightly.  
  
"Cut it out will ya?" she said under her breath, just enough for Blossom to hear her. In fact, Blossom couldn't even understand why Buttercup was so angry towards her at all. It wasn't like she'd done anything wrong. Granted, she didn't even think the professor had necessarily done anything wrong either.  
  
The library, her mind reminded her. Again, she pushed it away for the moment.  
  
"Have I told you how much I love you today?" Bubbles said playfully, grabbing Buttercup's arm and swinging it widely in very large circles.  
  
"Yes, I believe you mentioned it once-"  
  
The professor was laughing to himself, trying to hide it behind the cover of his hand. Blossom noticed it anyway and started laughing with him.  
  
"-or twice-"  
  
"I LOVE YOU!" Bubbles grabbed Buttercup in a very strong hug.  
  
"-That's FIVE today alone!" Buttercup choked under Bubbles's well-hidden, unnaturally strong grip. Blossom looked away from them and turned her attention to the professor who was looking straight ahead. They came to a bridge that crossed over a river and followed the crowd over it to the street.  
  
All around them the distant sounds of pops and whistles could still be heard from the surrounding neighborhoods. After all, it was only past ten, and there was still tons of celebrating to be done on the fourth of July.  
  
The street lamps cast a strange orange glow on the crowded people, which were now starting to thin out considerably, seeing as most people left by way of their cars in the parking lot. Now, the three girls and the professor were practically alone, left to walk together on a night that symbolized the strength of a family, a national family.  
  
"Professor, tell me more about your great-erm-grandfather," Blossom said, not sure as to how many greats she should add to the word. Next to them, Bubbles was still chattering away madly in Buttercup's ear, and she was clearly ignoring it, which was just as good. At least they weren't fighting.  
  
"Well, let's see." he said thoughtfully. "If I remember correctly, I believe he was from Iowa-"  
  
"Professor, you know that Iowa didn't even exist during the Revolutionary War," Blossom corrected him. He laughed slightly.  
  
"Okay then, that's apparently not right. perhaps it was actually the Civil War I'm thinking of. no, I'm sure it was the Revolution." he trailed off and looked up into the sky as if trying to get some sort of help from his deceased ancestor. They were now walking on a fairly busy urban road towards the same café they usually visited once a week.  
  
It was a twenty-four hour desert bar and café with live jazz music on Fridays and Saturdays. The professor knew the owner pretty well, a Filipino man in his late thirties that played with the house band. He was nice, both inside and out, and always liked to give Bubbles extra ice cream in the root beer float she always ordered.  
  
They walked into the dimly lit café, which was fairly loud, filled mostly with college students and families with their screaming kids. Blossom dimly wondered if they were that misbehaved when they'd been that old. She then realized it had probably only been her sisters that had been even close to that rambunxious, running around screaming and flailing their arms while they pretended to be monsters.  
  
Blossom had never acted like that, even when she'd been the youngest she could remember, which was only about five-  
  
-Even so, none of them had ever really acted that badly. Perhaps only on their bad days, usually when they'd snuck some candy or caffeinated soda. Those were the days when they really got on the professor's nerves, because they had always been naturally hyper without the aid of artificial stimulants.  
  
"Professor! Oh, do you think I could have some cake?" Bubbles cried loudly as she sat down on a particularly squishy chair. Blossom watched her calmly, wondering at the same time why Bubbles had never really grown up. On the outside she had certainly matured, but Bubbles frequently still acted like a young girl, at least she did around the family.  
  
Blossom had been in a few classes with her sisters the previous school year, and Bubbles had always been fairly quiet in school. Perhaps that had been a good thing, because if she'd acted like she did at home that would have turned lots of people off. Bubbles did have friends, but nothing nearly as close as her relationship with her sisters, and at least Blossom had never heard them complaining.  
  
"Well. I don't know. That's a bit too much sugar for you. Why don't you just have what you always do?" the professor said, partially distracted by a little brown haired girl who had just whizzed past his seat, closely followed by a blonde-haired boy who was screaming and crying very loudly.  
  
Bubbles didn't say anything after that, she just nodded quietly and pursed her lips very sweetly to show that she understood. Buttercup was watching the other people in the café with mild interest.  
  
"Do you want something sweetheart?" the professor said very lightly to Buttercup, keeping his voice low so that nobody else would hear. Buttercup was usually embarrassed easily by terms of endearment, and the professor knew this. She shook her head, watching a group of kids over by the arcade with a cool satisfaction.  
  
Blossom looked over at them, and recognized them as classmates from school. She thought about going over to them for a split second, but then thought better of it when she noticed Buttercup's expression of utmost disgust.  
  
Plus, it was a group of teenage boys acting incredibly immature over some video game called Mortal Kombat, screaming in delight, as heads were lobed off in gushes of pixilated blood.  
  
Blech. They don't know a thing about organized fighting.  
  
Bubbles stood very quickly to go order what she wanted, and she disappeared for a few minutes. Buttercup stood a few seconds after and disappeared down a small hall that led to the bathroom, leaving Blossom and Professor Utonium alone.  
  
"Don't you want anything Blossom?" he asked her casually after a few seconds. Blossom had been deeply into her mind wanderings when he spoke. A little red-haired girl was tugging on her mother's sleeve behind Bubbles at the counter, and Bubbles looked back at them questioningly as if she was supposed to do something about it.  
  
Blossom had started thinking about everything that had been bothering her and barely noticed that the professor had asked her a question. "Blossom?"  
  
"Oh-wha? Sorry professor, I was just thinking about school. No, I don't think I want anything. I'm not in the greatest of shape anymore," Blossom said lightly, knowing full well that it wasn't what she was thinking of, despite some of the truth in her statement.  
  
"Oh nonsense, that's silly. I think you look perfectly fine," the professor said, and Blossom could tell he was a bit uncomfortable saying it. Not because he didn't mean it, but because it was a sensitive subject, especially for dads. Blossom smiled wearily, her mind back on the question of their origins, and the fact that she still had some research to do. Bubbles came back at that moment, holding a fizzing soda in her hands.  
  
"Oh, well, I'm certainly not a toothpick."  
  
"What?!" Bubbles blurted very suddenly, and Blossom gave her a disapproving look. The professor clicked his tongue in disgust.  
  
"Oh be quiet. You're perfectly fine, and I don't want to hear another word like that come out of your mouth. Besides, all those girls in Hollywood need to eat something. Blossy, there's too much in life to enjoy, so stop worrying about your weight," he said very smartly, as if Blossom complained about it daily, which she didn't.  
  
Blossom just nodded in response, eyeing Bubbles carefully. Bubbles wasn't paying attention anymore. Instead she was deeply involved in the ice cream that was in her soda, swirling it around carefully with her spoon.  
  
"So, your schedule confirmations came the other day. For next year I mean," said the professor, folding his hands and laying them on the table in front of him. "So did your report cards." Bubbles looked up very quickly as if expected the professor to say something bad, but he didn't.  
  
"Oh did they?" Blossom said very half-heartedly. She watched the little kids playing, and thought about her and her sister's true origins again, about the fact that they couldn't remember anything before they were five because they'd never lived those years. It seemed like they'd missed so much time. for some reason, and the professor wouldn't tell them how or why. They'd, or Blossom, would have to find out on her own.  
  
"Straight A's again, but I would expect no less from you Blossom. I'm very proud. You too Bubbles, very good grades. You girls are really going somewhere." he said and he touched Blossom's shoulder. She turned to look at him, not realizing what sort of expression was on her face, and the professor suddenly looked alarmed. "Are you alright?"  
  
"Yes," she said quickly, trying to smile. "I'm just worried about next year is all. I assume Buttercup didn't pass all her classes?"  
  
"Well, she failed math, but that was expected. She always complained about the math teacher. Didn't you two have the same teacher?" asked the professor.  
  
"Yes, but she was in a lower level of math than I was. Her and Bubbles were in the same period I think, right?" Blossom said, turning to Bubbles who was looking at her. She nodded. "We didn't have too great of a teacher. I did struggle in that class."  
  
"But you still got an A. I got a B," Bubbles said glumly as if a B was something to be ashamed of.  
  
"That's still a terrific grade, don't forget that. I just think Buttercup had more problems than you did. She just sort of. gave up I think," Blossom said, suddenly aware that Buttercup had been absent for a long time.  
  
"So, how does your schedule look next year?" the professor asked, eager to change the subject to something other than failed math classes. Blossom thought very carefully.  
  
"Well, I had to sign up for health because I missed it last year. I also still need to see if I can get that last P.E. class waived. It's not like we really need it," Blossom snorted in disgust. None of them had ever needed help with physical activities. "I'm also taking honors English and history again. That's gonna' be a bit difficult, but after AP classes last year I think I'm more than prepared."  
  
"Um, I'm taking Spanish again," Bubbles said timidly, trying to get her own word in. Bubbles had been taking Spanish since junior high, so she'd gotten to be fairly fluent.  
  
"That's very good Bubbles. oh and I'm taking wilderness survival, as if that isn't the most useless class in the world," Blossom said quickly.  
  
"You never know when you might need to escape from a raging grizzly bear!" Bubbles said thickly, as if angered by the fact that Blossom had almost ignored her.  
  
"Oh Bubbles, don't act this way, please." Blossom moaned, realizing her mistake. She really didn't need any more arguments, because after all the fights she'd had with Buttercup the past week, Blossom felt she was set for the whole year. Bubbles didn't really make any motion to show that she'd heard, but she turned to the professor.  
  
"I'm doing art this year!"  
  
"Oh, that's very good. That would be a class I could see you taking," the professor said finally, after a long silence. He began to aimlessly drum his fingers on the table and looked around as if he was searching for Buttercup  
  
"Uh huh, and I wanted to take an advanced class, but they don't offer that sort of thing-" Bubbles began to talk very quickly and passionately about her art classes but Blossom had lost interest ages ago. Buttercup had been gone an awfully long time, and Blossom had suddenly felt this dark feeling come over her like a rising sensation of dread.  
  
"Um, I'm going to go make sure she's okay," Blossom said swiftly, interrupting Bubbles long speech about colored pencils. They both looked at her and nodded, then Bubbles was off again about color combinations and pencil strokes.  
  
Blossom got up and walked quickly in the direction Buttercup had gone, carefully avoiding the gaze of all the boys who were still shrieking at the video game machines. One of them looked over at her casually and his eyes widened very quickly when he saw her.  
  
"Hi Blossom," he said quietly, but the other boys heard him anyway and turned to look. Simultaneously they all started sniggering with barely controlled laughter.  
  
"Hi," she blurted quickly, because she recognized him as the boy who had sat behind her in AP Bio. She'd suspected for a long time he'd had a thing for her, and it was only confirmed by the reaction of his cronies. Blossom felt her face get really warm and she smiled shyly, and then ran off down the hallway in search of her sister. Behind her she could hear the boys saying obscene things to their friends, which most likely involved her.  
  
She ran to the bathroom, and burst in, for some reason expecting to see Buttercup lying on the floor bleeding to death, but she wasn't. In fact it was worse. She was against the far wall, sitting on the floor with her knees up, her face in her hands as if she was trying to hide herself. She looked very small and vulnerable, alone like that, and Blossom felt a rush of maternal instincts swell inside her as she moved towards her sister quickly.  
  
"Buttercup?" she asked quickly, crouching down in front of her sister. Blossom touched her shoulders and was surprised to find Buttercup very warm and trembling. She looked up quickly; saw Blossom, and quickly hid her face again so that she wouldn't reveal what Blossom already knew. Buttercup was doing something that she barely ever did. She was crying.  
  
"What's the matter? Is it the professor? Oh Buttercup, why don't you just talk to him?" Blossom cried helplessly. Buttercup didn't respond, but she shook her head fiercely, and with a huge sniffle fell into quiet sobs once more. "Buttercup, I know why you're upset, and maybe if you would just sit and talk with him-"  
  
"I'm not upset!"  
  
"Oh please, you're scrunched up in a corner crying your eyes out, and you have the audacity to tell me you aren't upset. I wasn't born yesterday you know-"  
  
But Buttercup's head had shot up when Blossom had said this and she looked at her angrily. Blossom was expecting her to say something, but beat her to it. "Look, I know he's not telling us what we have a right to know, but I think you're being unreasonable. I saw what you saw, and I'm going to try and find some things out first-"  
  
"That isn't the problem," Buttercup said. She was trying really hard to keep her voice even, but it was difficult because her voice kept jumping with hiccupping gasps.  
  
"Well, then what is it?"  
  
"I.I."  
  
But Buttercup had lost her will to speak, because at that moment a woman had walked into the bathroom. She looked at the both of them questioningly, and then walked into a bathroom stall and shut the door. Blossom pulled her sister up and pulled her out of the bathroom.  
  
"Pull yourself together alright? At least for tonight. I suppose you don't have to speak to him, but don't be such a brat either. I'm going to look up this Medicom business and see what I can find. Maybe once we know a little more. than we can ask him, alright?"  
  
Buttercup didn't say anything, but she looked into Blossom's eyes very carefully. Blossom didn't know whether or not she was getting through to her sister, but Blossom did see something in Buttercup, which she rarely showed; fear. Blossom felt a strong urge to hug her, but thought better of it, knowing that Buttercup didn't like being hugged. She thought it was childish.  
  
"I'm sure he's doing what he thinks is best for us."  
  
"But he still lied. I can't find it in myself to trust him anymore. Something happened and he felt obligated to take us in. He never really wanted us."  
  
"Buttercup, I'm sure there's more to it than that."  
  
Blossom suddenly really wanted to know everything.  
  
But now was not the time.  
  
She'd go to the library tomorrow, she would look up anything she could find about the company, see if there was anything about past genetic research (which was unlikely) and just see if she could put the pieces together.  
  
"Blossom, when I was in the bathroom I saw him," Buttercup blurted. Blossom was puzzled. Buttercup was clearly fighting back a new string of tears that threatened to come.  
  
"Hmm? Him who? Boys aren't supposed to be in the bathroom. I didn't see anybody-"  
  
"No. HIM."  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
But Buttercup had turned away very quickly and was walking back to the table. Blossom was left puzzled. The lady had come out of the bathroom and stopped next to Blossom.  
  
"Is everything okay?" she asked, concerned.  
  
"Yes everything's fine." Blossom said. The woman walked away, satisfied, and disappeared around the corner. ".I think." 


	7. Part seven

Inner Turmoil-Chapter 7  
  
The next day Blossom was still turning over in her mind what Buttercup had said about seeing Him. That seemed impossible. He would have attacked her. He would have done something. And what the hell had he been doing in the girl's bathroom spying on Buttercup?  
  
No, he clearly hadn't been spying, because he could easily do that while being invisible. He'd wanted Buttercup to see him, but why? What were his intentions? Was Buttercup going crazy? Was the emotional stress of finding out that they'd been test-tube babies really affecting her mental stability? Was Buttercup even telling the truth?  
  
It seemed impossible, because none of it made sense. Surely if Him was here, he would have made some sort of motion to attack. Buttercup had been all-alone in the bathroom, and he could have easily taken her by surprise and probably kill her without any of them knowing until they'd found her body.  
  
Blossom shuddered. That sounded terrible. It felt terrible. But then again, both her and Bubbles had already been complaining about feeling like someone was watching them. Maybe he had a reason for not attacking. Maybe that wasn't his intention at this point.  
  
Perhaps they were all just a bunch of hallucinating loonies, but that didn't seem very likely either. It was however more desirable than thinking that Him was lurking around Seattle somewhere, watching them, waiting for some sort of weakness before he could strike. But whatever the case, it had definitely been traumatic enough to make Buttercup cry.  
  
Was it the sudden shock of seeing a former villain, who just happened to be the evilest of evil? Was it shock because he'd apparently appeared suddenly and then disappeared? Or was it that mixed with the fact that she now hated the professor's guts?  
  
Blossom was suddenly horrified to think that as she'd been walking home alone that one night, Him had been watching her from somewhere. It made her feel dirty, and it made her feel a bit queasy at the same time. Her stomach gave a huge, frightening lurch at the mere thought of it.  
  
Ridiculous. He knows we can beat the living crap out of him. We've done it before, and we can do it again. Him could barely ever lay a finger on us.  
  
Well, what can I possibly do about it now? Blossom thought miserably. There wasn't a whole lot to do except stay alert. Thankfully, she'd never felt Him around when she'd been at home, and neither had Bubbles. If Buttercup had, she wouldn't say anything, but Blossom suspected that she would know somehow.  
  
"Can I help you find something?" asked an old, wizened looking librarian from behind the counter. Without thinking properly, Blossom had wandered up to her with no clue as to exactly what she wanted. Blossom was snapped awake from what she'd been thinking, and it was instantly put aside.  
  
"Um, I'm doing some research on genetics. and I was wondering if I could find anything about Medicom, anything at all," Blossom said stupidly, knowing that that didn't make the slightest bit of sense.  
  
"Well, I don't know if you'll find anything about Medicom under genetics, but you could try the science section and find some sort of general books on the company. That would be 950 to 1025," the woman said, and she smiled happily as she pointed in the direction Blossom wanted to be. Blossom murmured her thanks and turned to the endless bookshelves, feeling perfectly at home. She straightened her shoulders and walked towards the science direction, wondering where she should start.  
  
She wandered over to the science section and started scanning the shelves. Everything looked too general, and didn't seem as if it would offer any sort of help. Everything that looked remotely about genetics were usually textbook-like volumes that certainly wouldn't say anything about Medicom.  
  
Then at the bottom of the shelf, Blossom spotted a thin volume that looked interesting. It was titled, "History of Genetic Studies and the Magicians Who Did It", by Matilda Grunwald. That seemed a bit too easy, but Blossom picked it up anyway and found an empty table in front of a window.  
  
She leafed through the pages that were filled with pictures of DNA and old scientists, trying to find something of use to her. There really wasn't much that she could see. She was scanning the pages so fast that she was almost finished with the book when she spotted a heading that was exactly what she wanted.  
  
The heading was actually a caption to a picture, and it showed a group of men standing in lab coats in front of a large building. The sign of the building, in huge white letters said "Medical Communications Corporation", which had been what caught her attention. Blossom scanned the faces of the men eagerly, hoping to recognize the professor among them, but she didn't, and turned to read the caption.  
  
The main researchers of White Hazard, a division of Medicom that specialized in the research of genetic abnormalities and worked tirelessly to find the cures to these afflictions. In 1980 the group was disbanded because of the lack of funding. Pictured from right to left are-  
  
At that moment Blossom couldn't read on because the same woman interrupted her that she'd talked to at the entrance to the library. She was smiling, and held a thin magazine in her tight grip.  
  
"Sorry to interrupt you, but I found this and thought you might be interested. Just remembered about it actually." she said fondly, and she set it down in front of Blossom and walked away, still all smiles. Blossom pushed the big book aside and turned over the magazine.  
  
It was a magazine about Seattle, something that would only be read by people who absolutely loved the city. It was the type of magazine that was filled with information about restaurants, hot spots, and happenings, and Blossom wondered how it could possibly be useful to her. Then she looked at the cover. The headline screamed at her.  
  
Big Businesses and Where to Find Them!!!  
  
"Whaa?" she said softly to herself, and then she opened it up, flipping to the cover story, which was in the middle of the magazine. Sure enough, one of the first pictures she saw was of the very same building that had been in the genetics book. Blossom sat there, staring numbly at it for a while, turning over everything in her head.  
  
The professor had said something about working in Seattle when he'd been younger. Medicom was in Seattle. The Medicom logo had been plastered all over the professor's notes, along with the old photograph that had been of her and her sisters, unconscious. Medicom also had a division called White Hazard that had supposedly worked on genetic diseases, and the professor did have a Masters in that field. The division, White Hazard had supposedly gone under in 1980, but that part didn't fit. They had been born 12 years ago, and that was certainly after 1980, unless.  
  
Unless it had been a cover up. They were working on something big that nobody could know about and the professor had been a part of it. We were that "big thing", and maybe he led that project or something, and that's why he had us when we were born-  
  
-And the place was right here in Seattle. That's why the professor was so nervous about our secret abilities and us. That's why he's so adamant about us keeping everything a secret. He doesn't want Medicom to see us and come to claim us as their property. Perhaps when we were born the professor left to Townsville hoping to hide us? But we've come back and he's freaking out. That's why he's been acting so weird.  
  
Everything started to make perfect sense. Blossom snapped the magazine closed and looked out the window in front of her. It was a bright sunny day, and just strengthened the feelings of triumph that had swelled up inside her. She couldn't wait to get back and tell Buttercup. The professor certainly had a reason for not telling them the truth. The truth was absolutely insane, and would be incredibly difficult for a young child of five years old to handle.  
  
Blossom would force Buttercup into submission, because it was all getting just slightly ridiculous, and she would start treating the professor like a father again. Perhaps tonight was even the night that Blossom would force the professor to tell them the truth, because she was absolutely sure there were more details to the story that she couldn't work out on her own. But at this point, she knew enough, and felt confident to ask their father.  
  
Blossom stood very quickly and scooped up the large volume and the magazine that was still on the table. Very briskly she returned the Grunwald book back where she'd found it, but the magazine she decided to just leave on the magazine rack, not entirely sure as to where it went. Stepping lightly, Blossom walked back to the entrance of the library, but she stopped dead in her tracks, the sudden feeling of euphoria draining away.  
  
She couldn't really explain what made her so apprehensive, but in any case Blossom ducked behind one of the nearest bookshelves and peeked through the empty spaces between the books towards the entrance. There was a man standing there, he was tall and handsome, but clearly around the age of fifty or so. He seemed very out of place in his neatly pressed business suit and finely cropped gray hair, but that wasn't what had bothered Blossom.  
  
He stood very calmly by the low shelves that held the newest novels, and he'd looked up when Blossom had walked forward. In that split second that they'd made eye contact, Blossom had suddenly felt something she couldn't quite explain.  
  
It was as if she'd seen those eyes before, and despite the fact that they'd looked perfectly normal, there was something very off about his gaze. He had looked at her very strangely, as if he'd recognized her, and Blossom dimly thought she recognized him from somewhere as well, not quite sure where to place him. He'd smiled broadly when she had frozen, and he'd nodded his head in her direction in acknowledgment. He'd plainly reacted as if he knew who she was.  
  
Blossom moved slowly through the row of books she'd thrown herself into, watching the man suspiciously as she quietly made a different route to the exit. The only thing visible through the thin empty space above the books were her rose eyes, narrowed in an expression of deep concern. Was that man from Townsville? Did he recognize her as a Powerpuff Girl? No, that seemed ridiculous. Surely if he did, he would have said something, but why else would he let off that he recognized her.  
  
Probably some old sicko, she thought bitterly. In that instant he looked up again and turned his face directly towards her, knowing exactly where she was, despite the fact that she was mostly obscured from his view.  
  
Blossom's eyes widened in shock, for his face didn't look pleasant anymore. In fact, his new expression was one of rage, and he looked at her very squarely like he wanted to attack her. Blossom jumped back a few steps in surprise, because she'd seen something in his eyes she didn't want to see ever again. In a blind panic she made a beeline straight for the exit, turning just in time-  
  
-To see an evil glare in his gaze that she'd seen in only one other demon's glowing, malevolent stare. As soon as Blossom was out the door and onto the humid city street she took off running for home as fast as she could, not daring to look behind her.  
  
She didn't care who looked at her strangely, but she ran faster than what a generic human would find normal, the buildings and people whooshing past in colored blurs of motion. She didn't even realize where she was running, her mind and body on autopilot, until she ended up right outside her driveway, her sides heaving for air.  
  
A second later the professor came out the front door holding his car keys in his hand. When he saw Blossom he stopped and looked at her quizzically. She was hunched over panting, and it must have looked rather funny because the next moment the professor asked her,  
  
"Blossom? Is something wrong?"  
  
"No, No!" she croaked through gasping breaths. "Just trying to ::gasp:: stay in good shape!" and then Blossom gestured as if she was jogging in place, smiling stupidly as she did so. Professor Utonium looked at her strangely.  
  
"Well. I'm just going to the store for a few minutes. I'll be back shortly." he trailed off. As he was walking to the car he kept looking at her as if he half expected her to do tricks. She didn't, but waited until he'd gotten into the car before she bolted through the front door, locking the door behind her.  
  
"BUTTERCUP!" she shrieked loudly, her voice carrying through the seemingly empty house. There was no answer, and in a fit of panic Blossom ran through the house screaming for her sisters, opening every door she could see, including the pantry and all the closets. She darted up the stairs, still calling out when, Buttercup burst from her room sleepy eyed and frumpy.  
  
"What?!" she cried helplessly, rubbing sleep from her eyes. Clearly she'd been napping and Blossom had woken her.  
  
"Where's Bubbles?"  
  
"I don't know. I think she's with a friend. What's with you?!"  
  
Blossom pulled Buttercup back into her room and shut the door. He room was dark and there was a strange angsty feeling about it. Whether or not it was the strange posters on the walls, or Blossom's feeling of internal panic she wasn't sure.  
  
"Medicom is here!" Blossom hissed. "In this very city! That's why the professor doesn't want us to use our powers! He's afraid they'll see us and try to take us back!"  
  
"Okay, so that's why you're all hyped up? I knew that ages ago," Buttercup said angrily, flipping a trailing strand of black hair behind her ear. "I looked it up as soon as I saw the logo on his papers."  
  
"You did?" Blossom asked, slightly crestfallen. So it wasn't big news anyway, and Blossom's triumph was momentarily squashed by the mere fact that her work had been for nothing.  
  
"But, I know something else, something that wasn't on his papers. There used to be this division of the company called White Hazard that had supposedly-" Blossom lifted both her hands and made the motion of mid-air quotations. "-Worked on hereditary diseases, that means diseases involving DNA, but I know that's a bunch of bull," Blossom said quickly, making sure to emphasize her words with carefully calculated superiority. She was trying to outdo Buttercup. "The professor works in genetics," she added.  
  
"Oh?" Buttercup said with a yawn, arching herself backwards in an awkward looking stretch. Blossom nodded eagerly.  
  
"Yeah, but it said the division was disbanded in 1980, but it couldn't have if they'd been working on us. that means they were keeping it a secret."  
  
"But that doesn't explain exactly how we were made and why. That just tells us who did it. Not much else is answered Blossom, at least not what I think we deserve to know."  
  
"Yes, but maybe now we can ask the professor. Now that we know he must have been working for this White Hazard, we can ask him what exactly he was doing, and how we came into the picture. The book didn't go into that much detail because that's too big of a secret to just throw around. It's dangerous."  
  
Buttercup watched her sister warily. Both of them really didn't know what else to say, because Blossom was sure she'd managed to get out everything she'd wanted to. Then she remembered something.  
  
"Buttercup, you said you saw Him, didn't you?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Well, what do you think he's doing here?"  
  
"How should I know? I didn't get a chance to ask him," Buttercup said smartly.  
  
"Oh, Hah, clever Buttercup."  
  
"Well, maybe I didn't see him and I just thought I did. Maybe I'm going crazy."  
  
"Oh I knew that ages ago!"  
  
"Think your being funny do you?!"  
  
"Oh chill out will ya'" Blossom said sweetly, but turned serious again. "Buttercup, this could be serious. stay alert alright? You don't want Him to sneak up on you while your sleeping do you?"  
  
"He won't for God's sake, will you drop it already? He can't lay a finger on me because I'll clock him good before he does," Buttercup said angrily, throwing her fist in the air as she did so. Blossom barely had time to dodge.  
  
"Well, why were you crying then?" Blossom asked casually, knowing that Buttercup probably wouldn't want to respond to a question like that.  
  
"Well, I-erm- I suppose if you were in the girls bathroom and suddenly a red demon wearing pink frilly stuff appeared, smiled at you, and then disappeared it would shock you just a bit." Buttercup said, trying to sidestep the question a bit, but Blossom understood fully what she'd meant. She was probably right. If it had been her she probably would have had a stroke. Blossom decided to change the subject again.  
  
"Well, why don't we ask the professor tonight then? Over dinner?" Blossom asked.  
  
"No, no good. He's having dinner with some sort of education board tonight. We're on our own. Besides, I'm going there tomorrow after Bubbles's horsy lessons," Buttercup said.  
  
"What? Why?!" Blossom cried in alarm. That was probably the stupidest thing she could possibly do at this point.  
  
"Relax. I don't plan on telling them who I am. I just want to find some things out is all-"  
  
"Promise me you won't go!" Blossom cried suddenly. Buttercup looked taken aback.  
  
"No!" she cried angrily, bunching her hands into fists at her sides.  
  
"Please! I don't feel good about this!"  
  
"You never feel good about anything. Stop worrying all right? I can take care of myself!" Buttercup retorted loudly, causing Blossom to flinch and step back a few paces.  
  
"Buttercup! Listen to me! I'm serious about this! Stay away from that place! Do you want to put us all in danger?" Blossom grabbed her sister roughly by the shoulders and shook her lightly as she spoke. Buttercup looked at her, obviously torn between the right thing and what she wanted to do. "Promise me."  
  
".Okay." Buttercup whispered half-heartedly. Blossom released her grip and looked at the floor.  
  
"Now, if you see or feel anything funny, make sure you tell me okay? I'm going to go clean my room," Blossom said, knowing full well that her room never really needed to be cleaned, but she felt the need to keep herself busy anyway.  
  
She walked out of Buttercup's room and shut the door behind her, thinking about everything she'd just learned, trying to mentally set a time to talk to their dad about what was going on. She got into her room and looked around and sighed. There really wasn't much to do except stare at her tidy living space, so she decided that she would go through her closet instead and throw out anything she didn't wear.  
  
Blossom hummed happily to herself as she worked and jumped at small noises. 


	8. Part eight

Inner Turmoil-Chapter 8  
  
The next day was bright and sunny; the perfect day for horseback riding, and Blossom wouldn't have had it any other way as she rested against the heavy wooden fence with Buttercup, watching Bubbles carefully maneuver her chestnut horse around the pen while they waited for her instructor to come out.  
  
The area was fairly empty, except for a few passersby's that tended to their own animals as the day progressed. In fact, Blossom and Buttercup were really the only people paying attention to Bubbles at all. It was perfectly peaceful.  
  
The night before had also been fairly calm. Buttercup had slept most of the day, but had come down only briefly to eat dinner with her sisters. Bubbles had come home about an hour after Blossom had finished talking with her sister, talking very excitedly about her trip to the pet store. Blossom had listened to her intently, knowing that puppies and kittens meant the world to her sister, but her mind had really been on other things.  
  
Blossom didn't really have the heart to tell Bubbles about what she had found, and she hoped that she'd be able to get the professor to tell her; to tell all of them. It didn't seem fair to spoil the girl's good mood.  
  
After dinner Buttercup had returned to her room, probably to sleep, and Blossom had decided on watching TV with her sister. They'd ended up watching an all night horror marathon, but had quickly regretted it when the professor had come home around one A.M. just in time to scold them. He said growing girls needed their sleep.  
  
Growing girls also needed to watch where they were going, because at that moment Bubbles had barely avoided crashing into the fence on her horse, swinging the reigns wildly in an effort to control the animal. Blossom watched her sister calmly, breathing in the heavy scent of hay and equestrian sweat. Pleasant.  
  
Buttercup also looked like she was drifting off into another world. The heat was making both of them feel heavy and sleepy, and at least twice Blossom had found herself closing her eyes peacefully. Buttercup swatted a fly away from her face, annoyed, and rested her head on her arms again. Blossom turned to stare at her sister, who noticed almost instantly and stared back.  
  
"What?" Buttercup asked suddenly, swatting another fly away from her face. Blossom didn't really know why she was staring. Maybe it was because she was worried about her sisters, and didn't want anything to happen to them. It was only natural to be so attached to people who shared the same pain that you did, and not to mention the same super powers.  
  
"Nothing," Blossom said softly, turning her attention back to Bubbles and her horse, as who must have been Bubbles's instructor strutted out into the open. Blossom watched them talk excitedly for a few moments, perfectly normal, and the brunette girl grabbed the horse's reigns and began to pat the horse gently on the muzzle. The horse's tail swished back and forth eagerly, happy for the affection.  
  
Blossom heard Bubbles laugh, then very suddenly she stopped and stared wide- eyed into the distance in front of her.  
  
"Oh no."  
  
The horse let out a very loud shriek and broke free of the instructors grasp, wildly leaping around in circles around the pen. At that same moment Buttercup had suddenly snapped into reality and was watching with great concern at the scene in front of her. Blossom did the same, practically leaping over the fence in an attempt to help her sister. Buttercup grabbed her roughly by the back of her shirt and pulled her back, and Blossom had to settle with being partially mounted onto the fence, her muscles tense and ready for anything.  
  
Bubbles was struggling to keep the animal under control as it repeatedly bucked and galloped around in circles, shrieking and hissing wildly. The instructor was absolutely horrified, trying time and again to get a hold of the animal's reigns but it was too dangerous. The horse was out of control, and at the same time Bubbles's was screaming something unintelligible above the uproar, her blue eyes were wide and terrified. People had started to gather from the surrounding stables and watched helplessly from the fence as the poor girl with the blonde hair tried to stay on.  
  
There was one instant where the horse stopped and Bubbles looked at them frantically, tears leaving streaks down her red, dusty face. Both of them returned her stare, mortified, because they didn't have a clue as to how to really help her.  
  
They were frozen into submission by fear. Neither of them knew the first thing about horses, and despite their powers it could be dangerous to try and stop an animal of that size and strength that was obviously scared out of its wits. Plus, they didn't want to injure the horse, and the last thing they wanted was to put Bubbles in any more danger than she already was in.  
  
Then the horse gave a frightening lurch and Bubbles was thrown off of its back, flailing and screaming loudly. She landed heavily on the hard, hoof- packed ground with a sickening smack, and remained motionless: very still and silent. People around them were talking hurriedly; some of them screamed when Bubbles had fallen, Blossom and Buttercup had been among them.  
  
The horse was prancing around frantically, now trotting in tight circles around the fence, throwing its head in angered snorts, its mane wiping around its enormous, shining face. The instructor girl managed to grab the horse's reigns and halt it, but it continued to beat the ground angrily with its massive hooves, sending clouds of dust in its wake.  
  
But Blossom and Buttercup didn't notice the bulging muscles and heaving sides of the stallion, for they were too focused on their sister, who was lying on the dusty ground, not moving. Some of the people were jumping the fence to run to her. Blossom was about to leap over the fence in a single bound, when the most unusual thing happened-  
  
-Bubbles suddenly bolted upright, her eyes wide and rolling with barely controlled panic. Then, before anyone could make it to her she started screaming, loud and shrilly at the top of her lungs. Some of the people who had made it over the fence stopped dead in their tracks, dropped to their knees and covered their ears roughly, their faces contorted in grimaces of pain. Only Blossom and Buttercup weren't affected, because they knew-  
  
-The horse started shrieking again, but only because of Bubbles's pronounced wail that pretty much drowned every other sound out. The other people were all trying desperately to cover their ears in an effort to drown out the sound, their own screams mingling with Bubbles's continued cry as they all fell over onto the dusty earth. Blossom jumped over the fence, quickly followed by Buttercup, and they were partially knocked backwards by the perfectly timed, periodic waves of sound that were washing over the entire area like a sonar. The sonic scream.  
  
"BUBBLES! STOP!" Blossom cried hoarsely, lifting her hands in front of her face instinctively as another tidal of audible force swept over them. It came fast and hard, creating a swirling wind of energy in its wake similar to a blustery wind, sending dust and debris into the air.  
  
Buttercup got to her first and with a powerful leap, knocked Bubbles over back onto the ground, pinning her down roughly. Buttercup quickly covered her mouth with her hand, and Bubbles, very suddenly stopped screaming, but hot tears continued to trickle down her cheeks. For a minute nobody moved, and Bubbles blinked twice, absolutely confused.  
  
Buttercup got off of her sister and Bubbles sat up again. This time she didn't scream, but she looked around anxiously. The people who were lying on the ground were starting to stir, and some of them were unconscious. The horse was nowhere to be seen; it had jumped the fence minutes before. The entire situation was more than a bit awkward.  
  
"Come on, we've gotta' get out of here," Blossom said hurriedly, grabbing both her sisters by the arms and scooping them up from the ground. They broke into a run, away from the stables, Bubbles still in her riding gear.  
  
They didn't look back, and didn't stop until they were a good distance away, safely sheltered by the cool trees of a city park. Bubbles threw herself heavily onto a park bench, and Blossom began pacing wildly back and forth. Buttercup loomed over Bubbles wickedly, and looked as if her head was about to start shooting steam.  
  
"What-the-fuck-do-you-think-you're-DOING?!" she fumed, blaming Bubbles for something that certainly hadn't been her fault. Bubbles hid her face in her hands and started weeping heavily, drawing the attention of numerous joggers and bystanders. Blossom stopped pacing frantically and swooped onto Buttercup.  
  
"Leave her alone! She didn't do anything wrong!"  
  
"Waddaya' mean she didn't do anything wrong?!?! She coulda' killed those people!"  
  
"I understand that- but-" Blossom moved to sit next to Bubbles, who still had her face in her hands, her blonde hair lying ragged over her shoulders. "Bubbles, what happened out there?"  
  
She gave a huge shudder, another choking sob, and then looked up. Her gaze shifted between Buttercup, who was trembling with rage, and Blossom, who tried to keep her face calm. Bubbles's face was shining with wet tears, and her eyes were already red and swollen from crying. She finally rested her terrified stare onto Blossom, who watched her patiently.  
  
"It. well. I. um," and then she burst into tears again. Buttercup threw both her arms into the air in exasperation and turned away. She walked a few paces forward towards a nearby oak tree, and stood there silently for a beat, then turned back around to find Blossom attempting to comfort their distraught sister.  
  
"I don't think you'll be taking lessons there any more," Blossom said softly, trying to lighten things up again. Bubbles choked out something unintelligible, and Blossom took that for a laugh. Straightening, she wiped her face off with the back of a dirty hand, smearing the dirt and grime across her soggy face. Blossom tried herself to clean her sister's face off, but Bubbles moved away as if trying to say she didn't need to be babied.  
  
"Well?" Buttercup spluttered through gritted teeth. "What in the blazes do you think you were doing?" Blossom looked at her sister reproachfully, and for a beat Buttercup's face softened, but not by much. She was clearly not about to make things any better by screaming at Bubbles.  
  
Bubbles had always closed up whenever she was yelled at, and if one was trying to get something out of her, screaming was not the way to do it. Bubbles would only become silent and shy, but this was clearly not the case; she suddenly jumped from the park bench.  
  
"It wasn't my fault!" she stammered, her voice still quavering. "It. was. something scared the horse!"  
  
"That doesn't give you the right to knock out the entire stable-"  
  
"But- I- I didn't mean it! I'm sorry!"  
  
Blossom cut in.  
  
"Buttercup, don't you think it's possible that what happened was just a natural reaction?"  
  
Buttercup looked at her questioningly as if she didn't understand what Blossom was hinting at.  
  
The sonic scream had always been something that they'd used when a threat was much too close to them. Upon using it, it would force anything away that it was directed at, using the sheer power of sound that could be generated by each of their vocal cords. This was of course, something a normal human couldn't do, but it was in itself rare for them. It was incredibly difficult to generate that kind of energy in their throat at will, and needed a very strong stimulus in order to work correctly.  
  
It was powerful, and in some situations could be deadly, but it was also very effective. Their sonic scream tended to only occur as an instinct; a natural reaction to when they felt personally threatened or scared, and they'd found that they couldn't always control it. There was however, a rare occasion that they could, if the timing was right, and this clearly was not. Bubbles's appeared to have done it without control.  
  
"Should I speak in clear English for you?"  
  
"Very funny," Buttercup said sarcastically, throwing her head sideways in irritation, her black hair falling over her face. "I know what it means."  
  
"Then maybe you should stop yelling. I do say, perhaps we're attracting a bit more attention than desired."  
  
"And I do say, why don't you talk like a normal person?" Buttercup spat as a deliberate insult. Buttercup didn't need any sort of natural defense mechanism, because her biting wit was enough to scare anybody away, deadly monster or not.  
  
"Bubbles, what happened over there?" Blossom said lightly.  
  
"I don't think I need to tell you," she said, clearly uncomfortable.  
  
"Then this is serious."  
  
"Everything is serious to you!" Buttercup cried.  
  
"Would you be in denial?! You said yourself you saw HIM!" Blossom said it a bit louder than she would have liked. At that moment a jogger had decided to pass by and had stopped when Blossom cried out. The young man looked clearly surprised, and he stopped abruptly as if they were talking about him personally.  
  
"No, not you," Buttercup said bitterly, and the boy took off in the direction he was facing, possibly jogging a bit faster than he had been before.  
  
Bubbles was looking at both of her sisters frantically, her head turning in both directions faster than possible in order to fully look at them.  
  
"Well?" Blossom said, folding her arms across her chest impatiently. Buttercup had no reply.  
  
"I- I didn't really see Him! I just made that up so you wouldn't think I was upset-"  
  
"You MADE THAT UP?!" Blossom cried hoarsely, stopping a group of children in their tracks.  
  
"Oh no, not here you guys." Bubbles cried softly.  
  
"Yes! I couldn't stand seeing the professor so sweet and innocent. I want out of that house!"  
  
"You don't mean that!" Bubbles cried fiercely. Blossom had forgotten that Bubbles didn't really know the truth about the professor, and now was not a good time to bring it up. Not after what had happened, because that was a more pressing matter.  
  
"You know what? Then leave the damn house for all I care, because as far as I'm concerned you're just taking up space," Blossom spat angrily. Buttercup made a motion towards her as if she was going to fight, but Bubbles stepped between them.  
  
"What do you mean?" she asked forcefully.  
  
"He's been lying to us Bubbles." Buttercup said, looking at her sister. Blossom moved forward very quickly.  
  
"No, you just need to grow up. We aren't talking about your personal problems here," Blossom said, shooting a glance at Bubbles who was looking at her anxiously. Blossom deliberately emphasized her words in an effort to convey that Buttercup's mistrust was clearly for her own personal reason, only so that they wouldn't have to tell Bubbles the truth; At least not yet.  
  
"You." Buttercup hissed angrily.  
  
"I'm not fighting with you Buttercup."  
  
"Blossom, I felt scared. That's why I did it. I felt like I was going to die!" Bubbles cried softly. Blossom looked at her with surprise.  
  
"So, I was right?" she asked. Bubbles nodded. "You felt like someone was watching you again?" Bubbles nodded again.  
  
"But this time it was worse. It just felt different is all."  
  
There was silence between the three of them for a good five minutes. It was as if none of them really knew what they were supposed to do. There wasn't anything they could do; at least not until this something decided to show its face. What bothered Blossom was the fact that now Buttercup was taking back her claim to spotting Him, and that just made things more complicated.  
  
If she hadn't really seen him, then that pretty much ruled him out of their pathetically short list of suspects. In fact, Blossom had no other suspects, because she couldn't let herself believe that they were feeling things for a purpose. It was merely coincidence, a shadow of their past memories lingering in their minds to torment them. or else. it was possible that Buttercup was lying yet again in order to protect herself.  
  
They had to get home soon and tell the professor what had happened, or else he'd be worried. It was more than likely that he would get a phone call from the stables telling him in detail what had happened. They would probably want an explanation, and the professor really wasn't in the position to give one, because he simply didn't have anything.  
  
Buttercup looked around the park quickly, looked at her watch, and then turned to leave.  
  
"Where are you going?" Blossom asked her. She didn't turn.  
  
"What do you care? After all, I'm just taking up space," she said quickly, and then she began to walk quickly down the path to leave the park. Blossom and Bubbles watched her as she disappeared around the bend. Blossom figured she wasn't going to show up home for dinner that night.  
  
"Erm- maybe we should go home too." Blossom said, putting a hand on Bubbles's shoulder. Bubbles nodded, and then they walked down the path together, wondering what exactly they were going to tell the professor. 


	9. Part nine

Inner Turmoil-Chapter 9  
  
Should I go through with this?  
  
Yes.  
  
But- Blossom said-  
  
Screw Blossom.  
  
So.  
  
These were the very same type of arguments that went on between Buttercup's good sense, and her desire to do what she wanted to spite her sister. Blossom had told her it would be wrong, but Buttercup hadn't listened, she didn't want to listen. Besides, it felt good to watch her sister squirm, and it felt good to do just what she hadn't wanted.  
  
Buttercup stood alone outside a giant office building, the word Medicom posted in huge steel letters just above the building's glass entrance. Buttercup stood before the doors for a few moments, watching important looking business people walk in and out, while she fingered the slip of paper in her right hand. She looked at it once more, as if checking to make sure the address was correct, but of course it was. Buttercup surprisingly enough, could read the giant letters that confirmed she was where she wanted to be.  
  
The night before, Buttercup had stayed in her room. Blossom probably thought she had been sleeping, and had probably told the others not to wake her. That didn't matter either, because the professor was doing a good job staying out of her way. That was no loss to Buttercup; it suited her just fine. Every time she saw him she wanted to tear him to pieces.  
  
A smirk spread across her lips. Stupid man. What did he know about her really? She was nothing more than a lab rat to him. The only reason he'd even been raising them the past twelve years was so he could see how his creations fared in the real world.  
  
I guess we were smarter than you think, she thought bitterly to herself. Ever since Buttercup had found out the truth, ever since she realized that what he'd been telling them all their lives was false, she wanted nothing to do with him. She knew better.  
  
Buttercup knew that they were only a burden to him, and the only reason he kept them alive was because he was obligated by his employment. It didn't matter how lovingly he acted or how much he went out of his way for them, because he was leading them on, and Buttercup would have none of that. They weren't human beings, but someone's property.  
  
Buttercup stuffed the ragged piece of paper back into the pocket of her plaid skirt and adjusted the shoulder strap of her side bag. With an air of confidence she walked through the double glass doors into the cool air- conditioned lobby, making a path straight for the elevators.  
  
She had exactly ten minutes before the man she wanted to see was supposed to leave on his lunch break. He was the director, or head honcho if you will, and also the only guy with the information that Buttercup wanted. If anybody had questions, he was the one to ask, because he knew everything that went on in the company.  
  
Buttercup had wanted to make an appointment, but she had chickened out at that part. She was just going to walk in and hope he wasn't busy, armed with a false story about summer school reports in order to fool the secretary into letting her in. A part of her told her she wasn't going to get anywhere. After all, he was a busy man, and probably didn't have the time to see teenage girls.  
  
Buttercup had been on the elevator for what seemed like an eternity, before it finally stopped on the tenth floor. She had suspected she was getting odd looks from the people around her, but she didn't care. This was far too important to care about people staring.  
  
She stepped out into the new lobby, which was shinny and overly polished. Buttercup watched her own reflection curiously as it slid along the floor, walking towards what appeared to be a secretary at her desk. Business people were moving back and forth among the polished stone pillars, carrying papers and various documents, and Buttercup had to swerve twice just to avoid a collision. She walked up to the secretary's high-countered desk and stood quietly, expecting the snobbish woman to look up.  
  
After about ten seconds, the woman made no motion to signal that she knew Buttercup was there, so Buttercup cleared her throat loudly. The woman let out a mousy squeak and her pen went flying out of her hands, only to clatter onto the floor about three feet to Buttercup's left.  
  
"Err- sorry about that," Buttercup said awkwardly, and she moved to pick the pen up from the ground. As she stood, she caught sight of a very important looking man who was peering out the glass walls of his large office, looking directly at her. Breaking his gaze she looked back to the secretary, who looked just a bit ruffled by the scare.  
  
"Yes, yes, what do you need?" she snapped quickly, taking the pen quickly out of Buttercup's hand. Buttercup was slightly taken aback at this rudeness, but decided she should hold her tongue.  
  
"I'm looking for a man," Buttercup began swiftly, but she paused, realizing she didn't quite know what the man's name was.  
  
"My dear, I think you're in the wrong place then. Perhaps a teen rave would suit your needs-"  
  
"No, no! That isn't what I meant!" Buttercup said hotly. "I'm looking for the lab director."  
  
"And why on earth do you think he has the time to see you? He's a very busy man." The secretary said in a falsely sweet voice that made Buttercup cringe. She really wanted to punch this woman in the face.  
  
"I was just- er- wondering if he had a minute. I'd like to talk to him about."  
  
"Yes?"  
  
"Well. I. it's this project for school and. um, we're required to have a. professional mentor in the field our projects on. so. I uh." Buttercup stammered. The story sounded ridiculous, but that was the best she'd been able to come up with, and in her nervousness it sounded far dumber.  
  
"Well sweetheart. I'm afraid he can't see you now, and I suggest you choose a different field of study. The exit is just right over there-"  
  
"You BITCH!" Buttercup lost her temper.  
  
"Excuse me?" the woman squealed, putting one hand on her chest as she looked at Buttercup very disapprovingly, false eyelashes quivering.  
  
"YOU HAVEN'T EVEN TRIED!" Buttercup hollered. People were beginning to come out of their offices to stare, including that man that had been looking at her before.  
  
"My dear, you force me to call security!" the woman screeched, picking up the phone with freshly manicured hands, and moving to dial some odd number.  
  
"No, don't bother. I'll throw myself out!" Buttercup yelled. She spun around to leave, feeling like she was very close to hitting something, when she ran right into a dark gray business suit.  
  
"Catherine, there will be no need for that. I was expecting this young lady. Didn't you receive my memo?" he said, his voice was very smooth, like honey. Buttercup looked up at him warily, because he was tall, and did look imposing for a normal person.  
  
"Oh I'm sorry Dr. Levigne! It's just that his girl- she was so rude!"  
  
"Well, I dare say you would be quite irritated if your own appointment had been disregarded wouldn't you?" he said coolly, straightening the sleeve of his very expensive looking shirt.  
  
"I'm sorry sir, it won't happen again," the secretary said blankly, and shot one more acid glance at Buttercup, who could do nothing but grin stupidly in approval. The man put a heavy hand onto Buttercup's shoulder and began to push her into the direction of his office. It was very clear now, that he had been the one watching her from his glass room, and had quite possibly saved her from loads of embarrassment.  
  
"Um, thanks," Buttercup said lightly as she was directed to a seat that was in front of his large, polished wooden desk. She sat in the squishy purple chair and felt herself sink a few inches into the gauzy material.  
  
"Oh it was nothing. She is very difficult to work with, Catherine," the man said casually, as he took a seat at his own desk. After folding his hands in front of him on the table he set himself to staring at Buttercup with strange interest. She suddenly felt very uncomfortable, because she felt very small with the large man looking down on her.  
  
"Please forgive me. I'm the director here. Doctor Alexander Levigne," he said, extending a hand across the table for Buttercup to shake. Now it was panic time.  
  
"Oh um, I'm- ah- Buttercup," she said quickly, taking his hand. There was a light pause as he waited for her to disclose her last name, but she didn't give it. It probably wasn't the smartest idea the throw the professor's name around in this place. He looked at her suspiciously.  
  
"I overheard that you wanted to see me?" he asked for verification. Buttercup nodded swiftly and blinked a few times, before realizing that she should probably say something.  
  
"Well, you see sir, I-I-I-I was w-wondering if I could ask you a f-few questions?" she finally managed to stutter. That was one habit she hated about herself. She tended to stutter when she felt uncomfortable.  
  
"Yes?" he said warmly, but then held his finger up as if to silence her. "Anything to drink? Let's see I have water, some soda, oh and those coffee drinks you young ones seem to like so much."  
  
"Errr- no, that's okay-" Buttercup cleared her throat very loudly. "I'm good."  
  
He almost looked disappointed that he couldn't get her a drink, but shrugged it off anyway. "So, what was it you wanted to ask me? Is it some sort of project?"  
  
"Yes sir. I- uh- was wondering if you could tell me a-a- bit about the company." she said, feeling just a little bit of tension spill away.  
  
"What is it you want to know?" he asked calmly, drumming his hands on the desk before standing up to walk over to the back window. He looked out it dreamily and was watching the street below. "That industrial district.filthy. you never know what sort of dodgy things are around there eh? Deadly chemical plants." he said, turning to look at Buttercup with a strangely mad twinkle in his eye as if he was trying to tell her something. "Secret laboratories," Then the oddest of things happened; he winked. Buttercup almost thought she imagined it- but no- she had seen it, plain as day.  
  
"Well, I- ummm." Buttercup wondered how exactly she should word her question. It was going to sound very odd, and she was almost afraid to see his reaction.  
  
"How about I, say, randomly shoot off a word or phrase, and you tell me what comes to mind?" Buttercup said stupidly. He looked at her questioningly for a moment, not sure as to where this was headed, but he decided to humor her.  
  
"Okay. shoot."  
  
"Genetics."  
  
"Vast potential for human improvement."  
  
"Umm. okay." Buttercup squirmed a bit uncomfortably in her seat, hoping afterwards that he hadn't noticed.  
  
"White Hazard?" she said cautiously, at the same time waiting for half a dozen mercenary soldiers to burst into the room armed with machine guns. None ever came, but a drowsy silence fell over the two of them as the man turned around, beaming.  
  
"I see you've done some research. very good!" He said merrily. Buttercup had been thinking he'd become quiet or angry when she asked him, but instead he seemed positively delighted, as if he'd been waiting for it the whole time. "But as I'm sure you already know, that portion of the company has been gone for quite some time."  
  
"What did they do?" Buttercup asked hesitantly. She hadn't really been expecting to get this far.  
  
"Oh, they worked with genetics mostly. Human genetics if you please, and they were in the middle of working on a solution to aid physically challenged humans when-"  
  
"You mean, make them stronger?" Buttercup interrupted.  
  
"Oh yes. The idea was to help people get back on their feet who really couldn't anymore, whether it be age. or illness. or-"  
  
"How much stronger are we talking about?"  
  
"Strong enough." He said simply, but the smile that was plastered over his face told Buttercup otherwise. There was something more devious in the story that he wasn't going to say. "But, funding ran out and the division was disbanded."  
  
"So. was it successful?"  
  
"Perhaps." he trailed off very slowly. At that moment he began to stare at Buttercup in a way that made her feel most uncomfortable. He looked as if he was studying her, reading her very carefully as if he knew something about her that she hadn't addressed. Slowly, he licked his lips, as if Buttercup had suddenly turned into a very tasty pastry that was waiting to be eaten.  
  
She suddenly wanted nothing more than to leave as soon as possible.  
  
"Well. perhaps it could have been. but I suppose we will never know. will we?" he said hastily as if trying to correct a very grave error. Perhaps, without meaning too, he'd let something slip. what was he going to do now? Buttercup suddenly wished that she wasn't alone; in fact, she suddenly wished that she'd listened to Blossom and hadn't come in the first place.  
  
She quickly looked at her watch.  
  
"Oh wow, I-I-I don't mean to keep you or anything." Buttercup said very quickly, jumping up from the seat to run out of the room. "Plus I need to get home and uh, clean my room and stuff." Buttercup backed away towards the door. Nothing looked out of the ordinary.  
  
"I hope I answered everything you liked?" the man said cheerfully, and there was another mischievous twinkle in his eye that reminded Buttercup too much of someone she knew. someone she really didn't want to see right now-  
  
"Well-er- bye then, and thank you," Buttercup said, and then she turned to leave, walking as quickly as she could. With a frenzied pace she left the building, wanting to put as much distance between herself and that man Levign.  
  
She was probably about three blocks away when she managed to start thinking again through her fury. She walked briskly, dimly noticing that while she'd been there the sun had gone down, and the only the light was cast from the glowing orange streetlamps that lined the street. She continued walking, not even bothering to look around her, not even noticing that she was alone on a deserted street.  
  
How dare the professor work for such lunatics! He must be no better.  
  
Buttercup kept walking, but then stopped very suddenly as if something had just caught her attention. Something was coming and she could feel it-  
  
-Something large and massive came to a squealing halt in front of Buttercup. The air around her exploded with the sounds of many shouting voices.  
  
A large, white van had careened out of the alleyway that had been just ahead of her, headlights blazing and tires smoking. From the double back doors men with guns began to pour out of the back, shouting and yelling at her with their guns pointed.  
  
Buttercup turned to try and run, confused, but there were more men behind her, moving forwards slowly with their guns trembling. They were clearly scared of her, treating her as if she was a bomb that was about to go off. Slowly they kept coming towards her as if trying to herd her towards something, the van, they were trying to get her into the van.  
  
That BASTARD!  
  
You have to do something quick!  
  
The guns made her wary. Buttercup had never been shot before, and certainly didn't want to make this the first time.  
  
It was very clear what this was. That funny man had arranged this. They wanted her back-  
  
There was an explosion of movement as the men all lunged for her simultaneously. Buttercup was much too quick for them; her smaller size, and super powers giving her an unfair advantage-  
  
-With graceful agility she leap high into the air, sailing over the men's heads as she landed cat-like onto the roof of the van with a loud crunch. There was definite confusion as the armed men couldn't quite comprehend what had happened-  
  
-Buttercup paid no attention to them. She acted like a threatened predator, and did the only thing that came to her mind. On the top of the van she stalked over to the space of the roof that was above the drivers seat, clenching her right fist-  
  
-With a loud squeal of rendering metal, Buttercup punched her fist into the roof, sliding it through as if it were nothing more than Jell-O. Fishing around, she felt what she wanted and yanked hard-  
  
-The armed crowd below had suddenly realized where she'd gone and started shouting again, pointing their guns upward, and stopping dead-  
  
-There was a loud shriek from inside the van as Buttercup latched onto the thick, greasy hair of the driver, pulling with all her might. His head came tearing through the thick top of the car, screaming wildly. Buttercup tightened her grip and pulled him out cleanly, ignoring the fact that the man was now partially dead. He'd been completely torn apart-  
  
-The men below had all frozen, watching her with horror plastered onto their faces. Buttercup was laughing cruelly, not caring about how brutal she was being. She was so angry that they'd even dare try and take her. she was feeling murderous, deadly-  
  
-With a mighty yelp Buttercup flung the dead man at the crowd below, feeling her powerful muscles contract in her arms with efficient skill. About a dozen of the armed men were sent sprawling, blood splashing all over-  
  
-With so much grace and agility Buttercup flipped over backwards, landing on the opposite side of the van. Feeling the beautiful strength surge through every cell in her body, she laughed at the pure ecstasy of using her bottled-up powers once more-  
  
-With a mighty kick and a hearty guffaw of triumph, the entire van rolled forwards with the force of a large semi, plowing over all the men like so many bowling pins. The sound was so wonderful: exploding glass, bending metal-  
  
-Then there were sirens. The police-  
  
Shit!  
  
Buttercup disappeared down the alleyway the van had come from, feeling as though she'd never felt more alive in her life. Smiling the entire way, she darted amongst the shadows, her element, and made her way home.  
  
Oh, Blossom would be soooo angry!  
  
The police could never figure out what had been strong enough to send and entire van rolling down the street like an oversized skipping stone, only to smash to a halt into a florist about five blocks away. Nothing remotely normal could do that, and then vanish without a trace. The only evidence left was a mighty dent on the van's side and a huge peeling hole above the driver's seat, which the police couldn't make any sense of.  
  
The bodies were marked as robbers fleeing from a scene. How far from the truth that was, nobody would ever know. 


	10. Part ten

Thanks to Andy for helping me with these next few parts! ________________________________________________________________________  
  
Inner Turmoil-Chapter 10  
  
Buttercup returned home that night to a rather unpleasant sight.  
  
"Where have you been?!" Blossom cried shrilly, her arms folded in the most uptight of manners. "We've been worried sick!"  
  
Buttercup walked into the living room and threw her bag onto the couch. She tried to arrange her face into something expressionless, but she was finding it very difficult to stop smiling.  
  
"I was out," Buttercup said, flopping herself down onto the couch while searching aimlessly for the remote.  
  
"So I noticed. Where were you all this time?" Blossom said, moving over to the side table, where the remote was sitting next to a small lamp. She picked it up and dangled it in front of Buttercup's face tauntingly.  
  
"What do you care?" Buttercup said dully, making a good, quick snatch for the remote, but Blossom pulled it back before she could get it.  
  
"That's not good enough Buttercup. You missed dinner," Blossom said, once again bringing the remote back around as if she was going to drop it on Buttercup's lap. She held it firmly, pursing her lips.  
  
"Who died and made you my mother?! Give it to me!" Buttercup leapt up and made one last grab for the controller, grasping it firmly in her fingers and yanking hard. Blossom let go willingly, but she also was giving Buttercup the impression that she was hurt somehow.  
  
"That isn't funny Buttercup," Blossom said softly. Discussing any sort of mother was a touchy subject for all of them. Buttercup sat back down onto the couch and attempted to ignore Blossom, but she didn't move. "And why are you smiling?!"  
  
"Because I'm happy. Now get out of my way!" and Buttercup swung her arm around as if she was doing nothing more than swatting a harmless fly away. "I was just walking."  
  
"You could have at least called," Blossom mumbled, and then she walked away, slightly hurt, leaving Buttercup to watch TV alone. Blossom did fully regret telling her sister that she thought she was useless, but at the time she had been making her so angry. Blossom just wished that Buttercup would get a clue that the whole world didn't revolve around her. Her macho act just didn't fool anybody anymore; it was a cry for attention in Blossom's eyes.  
  
Blossom walked into the professor's study, planning on finding a good book to get her mind off of things, when she found him walking around aimlessly as if he was looking for something.  
  
"Do you need something?" Blossom asked him curiously, walking over to one of the tall bookshelves. She turned her back to him and began scanning the labels of all the professor's science books.  
  
He opened a drawer of his desk carelessly, and Blossom heard the whole thing crash to the floor with a loud clatter. He was muttering under his breath as if Blossom hadn't even entered the room.  
  
Noticing an interesting looking book on mammals, Blossom pulled it out of its niche and turned around. The professor was padding his pockets, clearly looking for something he'd lost.  
  
He stopped short and looked at Blossom suspiciously as if he thought she was guilty of something.  
  
"Have you seen my pipe?" he said, eyeing her coolly. Blossom sat herself at his desk and put the book in front of her, opening it silently while the professor waited for some sort of response.  
  
"Oh, I hid it." Blossom said leisurely, licking a finger lightly to turn the pages. She heard the professor's arms smack down to his sides in exasperation.  
  
"You know I hate it when you do that. Where is it? You're closet? The pantry-"  
  
"The roof."  
  
"The WHAT?!" he cried in disbelief, but there was light humor in his voice.  
  
"Oh yeah, Bubbles and I hid it in the gutter the night you were out with the other professors," Blossom said casually, as if it was nothing more than doing laundry. "Smoking is bad for you."  
  
"Oh, good grief. If you want me to quit there are other ways of doing it." the professor said, and he left the room. Bubbles walked in a few minutes later, looking slightly disturbed.  
  
"Buttercup is scaring me," she said softly. Bubbles turned around very quickly like she was checking her shoulder for some sort of oncoming attack. "She's watching a shopping network, but she's sitting all alone, smiling like it was Christmas!"  
  
"Oh yeah? She's really irking me right now. I don't know why she's doing that, but I'm afraid of what it could mean," Blossom said, turning some more pages in the book she was reading. Bubbles started spinning the large globe that sat on a pedestal in the far corner. Then she asked a question that Blossom was hoping to avoid,  
  
"Why does Buttercup hate the professor?"  
  
Blossom closed the book she was reading and slid it along the table away from her. She turned to her blonde sister and put her hands on her knees.  
  
"She- well- I think Buttercup doesn't fully trust him. I mean, you know that we've been suspected things about our past for a long time. Buttercup is just expressing her suspicions differently, that's all. She doesn't hate the professor," Blossom said.  
  
"Oh."  
  
"You know Bubbles, I think I'll ask him soon. You remember what we talked about a few nights ago?"  
  
"Uh huh."  
  
"Good. I'll ask him, and then everything will be back to normal. Buttercup won't hate the professor anymore, because lord knows its getting irritating." Blossom said finally, talking very fast.  
  
Satisfied, Bubbles changed her expression into something a bit more cheerful.  
  
"Oh, heh, I should probably go get the professor's pipe off of the roof," Bubbles said, turning to leave. "Before he flips out again. We don't want another garden episode." she laughed.  
  
Ever since they could remember, the professor had always been fond of walking around the house with his little black pipe sticking from his mouth. It had never really bothered them when they'd been younger, but as they grew older, his smoking habits had become quite irksome. He seemed to think it looked dashing and intellectual, but the girls just thought it was gross.  
  
About three years ago, the three of them had developed a new pass time in order to get the professor to quite his pipe-smoking ways. It was called: "Hide his pipe in the most ridiculous of places where he would have a snowball's chance in hell of finding it." A current favorite was somewhere on the roof, but one time they'd buried it in the backyard, turning up all the professor's prized begonias into a heaping mess on the grass. Needless to say, he hadn't been too pleased.  
  
"Make sure you snap it in half too. That'll force him to have to buy a new one. which we'll promptly confiscate," Blossom winked at her sister, who giggled with giddy delight. Blossom could swear that they'd probably purposely broken his pipe at least a dozen times, but every time he'd secretly buy a new. At first he tried to hide it, but they'd always end up finding his pipe, which he always put in the same place. Having super sensitive smell is in fact good for something.  
  
Bubbles scampered out of the room, and a moment later Blossom yawned widely. She stretched heartily and rose from her seat, planning on a good, comfortable rest in her room. Buttercup had already stolen the TV and the professor was obviously pre-occupied, and there wasn't much else to do that night.  
  
Bidding the professor, and Buttercup (who's only response was a grunt of recognition) good night, Blossom made her way to her room, looking forward to the comfort of her cushy bed. It was deathly hot out, so she cracked her window, listening to Bubbles stomp around on the roof to claim the professor's lost pipe.  
  
The heat made her too lazy to really do anything, so she flopped onto her bed, sending the stuffed unicorn to the floor with a mighty leap, where it lay amongst a pile of Blossom's books. Not bothering to get under the covers, Blossom laid her head on her pillow and began to think, twirling a small strand of her hair around her finger.  
  
Then Blossom dozed off just lightly. Always faithful, her dream came almost as soon as she drifted off.  
  
Dying, dying, dying-  
  
-So confused. I just want to close my eyes and sleep. it hurts badly-  
  
-Stop laughing! STOP LAUGHING!-  
  
-Be very, VERY careful. appearances are deceiving-  
  
-Soon, very soon, I will die. but how-  
  
-I. Can't. Breath.-  
  
She woke with a very muffled gasp, realizing that she'd been smothering herself in her pillow. She wasn't screaming this time, but she was shaking so badly it was hard for her to hold her body up with her hands as she tried to pull herself up. The dream had been just the same, terrible and ominous, and Blossom couldn't help but feel a little sick. She froze her entire body for a few moments, afraid she was going to be sick on her pillow, but it passed.  
  
Still shaking, she sat herself up on the edge of her bed, and looked at the clock. The glowing numbers read two A.M. She sat alone, letting the darkness and warmth of her room blanket her, trying to even her breathing out. Blossom ran both of her hands through her hair, feeling the sick moisture of sweat amongst her scalp, when she suddenly realized she didn't want to be alone anymore.  
  
Her feet carried her there automatically, and she didn't really realize where she was going until she found herself standing outside the door of the professor's room, which stood slightly ajar. There were flashing lights coming from the other side, and Blossom thought that the professor was probably still awake, when she opened the door slowly, poking her head around the door cautiously.  
  
No. He was obviously asleep, but the TV was still on. He was lying on top of the blankets, still dressed and obviously too hot seeing as the very top of his shirt was unbuttoned, exposing his chest just slightly. He looked so peaceful, with one arm lying across his forehead, and the other one atop his chest, the remote nestled beneath his hand, his chest rising and falling evenly with deep, peaceful breaths.  
  
Blossom stood frozen in the doorway for what seemed like an eternity, too afraid to move for fear of waking her father. He never stirred, and she very cautiously crept over to his bed, leaning over the mattress just enough to free the controller from under his palm. With a soft click she turned off the TV and stood at the side of his bed for a few moments, afraid of many things.  
  
She didn't want to wake him or disturb him in anyway, but for some reason she couldn't will her legs to carry her back to the room. Blossom stood there nervously, her mind very quickly deciding on leaving, then changing its mind for her to stay.  
  
Finally she made a decision, and very carefully crept onto the professor's mattress to curl up next to him like a lonely puppy. He never stirred, but Blossom, unable to fall back asleep right away, watched the professor for while until she finally dozed.  
  
Blossom slept uneasily, somewhere between her dreaming state and complete unconsciousness. She never realized it, but the rest of the night she spent tossing and turning on the professor's bed, but never enough to wake him.  
  
Her mind was in so much disarray that it would be hard for her to distinguish between her woken realities or if she was still dreaming. Everything seemed very blurred and confusing, and by the time Blossom woke up around eight in the morning her mind was already a jumbled, groggy mess.  
  
Blinking very slowly in the now dimly lit bedroom, Blossom could feel the professor next to her. Slowly, her head a fuzzy mess, she turned onto her side to see if he was still sleeping, but what she saw came as quite a shock.  
  
Almost immediately her heart started thundering as if it had just been given a shuddering jolt. Blossom cried out involuntarily, her body freezing on the spot, her eyes widening in shock-  
  
-The professor was not lying next to her, he wasn't even in the room, but the reality was far worse than worrying about his absence. In the spot where the professor had been sleeping just hours before, nestled close to where Blossom now lay, was none other than the very last person Blossom wanted to see-  
  
-There was an ear splitting shriek as the being known as Him rolled over very quickly, pinning Blossom onto the hard mattress with his crab-like claws, a wicked grin on his devilish face.  
  
On instinct, Blossom forced her hands upward to push him off, every rough breath a shuddering gasp of air. Him didn't budge, and in a blind panic, her mind racing, Blossom did the only thing that came natural to her. He was going to kill her; she could see it in his eyes.  
  
She bunched her fist very tightly, barely noticing that her vision was beginning to blur, barely feeling the demon's claws against her shoulders. In one very swift motion, and a cry of anger Blossom drove her powerful fist into the demon's face, sending Him sprawling backwards with a thundering crash. There was a loud crunching sound as his body went across the room, drywall and wallpaper splitting with the force of Blossom's panic- driven blow-  
  
-Screaming, Blossom leapt up in bed with a sudden gasp of breath, her hair a tangled mess of sweat and sleep. Her heart beat relentlessly against her ribs as her whole body trembled with anticipation, confusion and disillusionment swimming inside her brain as she prepared to attack again if necessary. But something in her brain told her to freeze-to not attack- something comparable to an alarm, telling her that something had gone horribly wrong-  
  
Blossom looked around the room blindly, slowly becoming aware of the events that had just transpired. She had been dreaming. she had been dreaming. but it had been so real. somebody had been touching her shoulders.  
  
-But then she screamed again, this time out of complete horror. Something was in fact very, very wrong.  
  
Instead of the body of Him lying sprawled up in a heap against the wall, which in itself was enough to bring tingles down anyone's spine, what was actually there brought Blossom no more comfort.  
  
The professor was doubled over weakly, swaying, clutching his head in his hands as pieces of the wall crumbled downwards, dusting the professor's shirt with a light film of fake snow. He cradled his face in his hands, groaning, and blood seeping between his fingers, almost as if he'd just been punched in the face-  
  
Oh no. 


	11. Part eleven

Inner Turmoil-Chapter 11  
  
In an instant, Blossom leapt off the bed and ran to the professor's side, who was still cradling his injured face in his hands.  
  
"P-p-professor. I-I-I" Blossom stuttered uselessly, dropping to her knees at his side, her stomach queasy from guilt.  
  
What's happening to me? What's happening to us?!  
  
There was a soft, muffled sniffle from behind the professor's hands, but he didn't speak. He was still swaying just lightly, pitiful moans floating out from underneath his palms.  
  
Blossom was trembling herself, scared and angry at her own loss of self control, but these things had started happening recently, and Blossom was becoming very afraid for all of them.  
  
"I'm s-s-sorry! I'M SORRY! I-I-I-I didn't m-mean it!" Blossom cried, her voice barely above a whisper as her eyes began to burn from oncoming tears. Very carefully she touched the professor's hands and tried to pull them away from his face, terrified at what she'd find. Had she forced all her strength upon her father?  
  
He flinched just lightly as Blossom pulled his hands away, a very odd expression on his face, somewhere between anger and tears. Blossom was afraid he was going to start screaming at her any second.  
  
Thankfully the damage was light. There was a fresh cut near the professor's cheekbone, slowly oozing red blood that was lightly smeared down his face from his hands. It didn't look too terrible, except for the fact that that entire side of his face was turning red and inflamed. That was going to be a nasty bruise later.  
  
"Blossom." he mumbled, taking a ragged breath of pain as Blossom accidentally jarred his fresh wound in her panic.  
  
"Hold on! I-" but before she even finished what she was going to say she leapt up and darted to the bathroom. In her worried haste she threw open the bathroom cabinet and began throwing stuff around, ignoring the shattering of glass as she dropped at least two of the professor's bottles of cologne onto the floor. Her mind was too busy panicking to really worry what her hands were doing as she looked for sterilizer and bandages.  
  
What's wrong with me? I feel like I'm losing my mind!  
  
We all are. We're going insane.  
  
Blossom couldn't understand how she had allowed herself to lose control like that, to go so far as to attack the professor. She had obviously been dreaming that Him had been attacking her. but in the real world it had only been the professor, leaning over her as she'd been sleeping. probably concerned.  
  
There was no question that she had problems, her sisters too. Everything in their family had started to fall apart in the last month.  
  
First, Bubbles nearly killed off an entire crowd of innocent bystanders with her sonic scream. That had purely been unintentional; Bubbles had lost her grip on her repressed abilities. And Buttercup- who knows what was happening to her, because she kept herself so secret all the time. but she was definitely acting moodier than usual, especially towards the professor.  
  
And as for herself. she'd just attacked the professor in her sleep, nearly bashing his head in as he'd been sitting over her. She could of swore that she'd been awake, defending herself against the evilest of evil. at least that's what her mind had been telling her. or even worse. her feelings.  
  
No. That's not it at all.  
  
But was it? Was there something deep inside of her that was screaming to be heard? What was even worse to think about, was that she sat there and told herself that had been an accident. that she hadn't meant to hit the professor. but was it possible that deep inside she really resented something, and was starting to lose control over those repressed feelings?  
  
No. I have faith in him. I still trust him. he's my father.  
  
But did her sub consciousness have a score to settle?  
  
No. It had been an accident, a silly accident that had only been a result of her confusion. Her mind was certainly not playing tricks on her in order to fulfill the desire of her sub consciousness. The fact that he was keeping a huge secret from them had no connection to the accident at all. She was just scaring herself.  
  
Or did it?  
  
STOP!  
  
But she had never lost control like that, ever. Was there any other explanation?  
  
Whatever the case, things were getting dangerous. Her and her sisters were clearly losing their grip on their sanity and their powers. If things weren't put under control, if things weren't settled soon, then they'd only become a danger to the professor and themselves. The three of them were living, breathing weapons, the product of a selfish corporation's desire to play God; weapons with repressed anger over their past hidden inside them, ready to burst at any moment.  
  
It hurt Blossom to think that, while unintentionally, as she'd lost control over her actions, she'd ended up hurting the professor. If those kinds of hurtful feelings were inside her. then it was most certainly in all of them, along with the ability to potentially kill the professor if things got out of control.  
  
Blossom still believed in him, and certainly didn't want to hurt him. but Buttercup.  
  
She was by nature more violent and angry than her and Bubbles. Blossom didn't doubt that if she'd just accidentally almost killed the professor, that Buttercup could do it willingly in her current demeanor. She resented him, hated him even-  
  
Blossom hadn't realized that she'd been on her knees sobbing for the past five minutes, and she jumped up instantly, clutching her first-aid supplies in her hand as she rushed back to the professor's bedroom. He was standing now, walking slowly from one side of the room to the other with a bloodied towel in his hand.  
  
Blossom entered the room, drenched in tears, and rushed over to where he was standing. He looked at her very lightly, his face awash with some kind of sadness. Blossom grabbed him and moved him over to the bed where he sat. She began tending to his face.  
  
"Blossom. you were convulsing. so I-"  
  
"There's no excuse for what I did." She said very sternly, gently dabbing a gauzful of alcohol onto the professor's cheek. He gritted his teeth tightly,  
  
"No. these things happen. sometimes we lose control-"  
  
"I KNOW! THAT'S WHAT SCARES ME THE MOST!" Blossom cried, nearly knocking the bottle of sterilizer onto the carpet.  
  
"Shhh. it's okay. I'm not angry. You were dreaming weren't you? Erm-here, let me," he said, as he grabbed the bandage that Blossom had been clumsily trying to free from its package.  
  
"Professor, I could have killed you." Blossom said meekly, staring into his calm brown eyes.  
  
"Well, you didn't, and that's what's important. I suppose I learned my lesson too: not to stand over you while you're having a nightmare," he said lightly, a touch of humor in his voice. How could he be so lighthearted after Blossom had just punched him into the wall?  
  
"But. I'm losing it Professor. We all are. I think-"  
  
"Nonsense. You're just stressed that's all."  
  
"I think it's deeper than that," Blossom said softly, but she was unwilling to go any further with her revelations.  
  
"Well, at least you were holding back." he said jovially, and then he got up off of the bed, a new, stark white bandage on his face. "Oh, the girls are up. Perhaps we should go down for breakfast," he said to Blossom, lightly cuffing her on the shoulder. She looked up at him wearily.  
  
"Try not to let this bother you. It was an accident, nothing more."  
  
Blossom nodded, yet she couldn't bring herself to believe it.  
  
There was only one thing left to do now. Blossom wanted to get rid of some of these feelings; she wanted to know the truth-  
  
She'd told Buttercup not to, but things were getting serious. Drastic times called for drastic measures. If the question of their origins wasn't settled soon, if their anger was allowed to stew inside them any longer, things could get ugly.  
  
Blossom would go to Medicom herself. Then she would confront the professor.  
  
*** "Good morning girls!" The professor said merrily, waltzing into the room to plant a kiss on Bubble's cheek. He glided over to Blossom, who was staring into her glass of water as if it was her entire reality. He leaned over close to her ear and squeezed her shoulder, whispering something about no worries, but Blossom wasn't paying attention. She was a bit preoccupied.  
  
Buttercup was next to her, once again flipping through the channels like there was no tomorrow. The professor hesitated next to Buttercup, who paid no attention to him whatsoever, and settled on ruffling her hair lovingly. She clucked her tongue in disgust and tried to put her hair back into place as she settled, once again, on the channel four news.  
  
"Good morning Professor!" Bubbles chimed happily, and for a minute it seemed like she wouldn't notice. Then- "Oh my gosh, what happened to your face?!" she shrieked so loud and suddenly that Buttercup accidentally dropped her spoon into her cereal bowl.  
  
"Lower the decibels, okay!" Buttercup said angrily as she proceeded to finger her spoon out of the bowl of milk.  
  
The professor stole a glance over at Blossom, who was watching him anxiously, waiting to see what he'd say.  
  
"Oh, I got a little clumsy shaving this morning. Nothing to worry about," he said whole-heartedly. Then he settled into his usual spot in front of the morning paper, his workbag nestled between his feet on the floor. He lost focus on the table and began to read.  
  
"This is boring!" Bubbles whined, slamming her glass of orange juice onto the table. Buttercup gave her a steely glare that could most certainly freeze anyone on the spot.  
  
"Tough."  
  
Blossom shifted nervously in her seat, guilt still swimming inside her from earlier. Apparently, her sisters hadn't heard anything. She turned to Buttercup and leaned close to her.  
  
"I'm going," she whispered.  
  
"Huh?" Buttercup said stupidly, she was watching the news eagerly, as if waiting for some big announcement.  
  
"To Medicom."  
  
"Oh, that won't be necessary," Buttercup said casually, lifting her hands to her face as if she was trying to cover something. Blossom was taken aback.  
  
"How come? Yesterday you were all eager to bust in-"  
  
"Trust me-" she said forcefully, barely hiding the grin behind her hands. Before Blossom could think it through any further, something on the news caught her attention. They were talking about Medicom.  
  
"The cause of the failed robbery attempt near the Medicom building is unknown at this time, but police are-"  
  
It definitely caught the professor's attention too, because he looked up from his newspaper to watch the report.  
  
"All the men were found dead on the scene, the driver in particular was mauled almost beyond recognition-"  
  
Blossom looked at Buttercup suspiciously. Bubbles was still happily chewing away on her jelly toast.  
  
"The getaway vehicle itself was found blocks away lodged into the window of a florist, one side badly dented and a torn hole above the driver's seat. Nothing was apparently taken, but eyewitnesses say they saw a teenage girl leaving the scene-"  
  
Blossom nearly choked on her water as she heard the report, turning to stare at Buttercup so angrily she could have burned a whole into her stupid, proud face. Bubbles had stopped eating, and was staring wide-eyed at Buttercup, her toast dangling from her partly open mouth. The professor had completely frozen and was staring into the newspaper stupidly, his eyes so wide it looked as if they were about to pop.  
  
"You didn't."  
  
And all Buttercup did was smile. 


	12. Part twelve

Inner Turmoil-Chapter 12  
  
"I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU!"  
  
Buttercup looked at Blossom smugly, an evil smirk plastered onto her face.  
  
"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!?!" she roared so loudly that she could have made the house explode.  
  
Bubbles was now hiding partially under the table, goggling at Blossom and Buttercup apprehensively. Both her and the professor were very quickly putting two and two together. It was very obvious who that "strange teenage girl" was.  
  
"YOU COULD HAVE COMPLETELY BLOWN OUR COVER!!!"  
  
Buttercup suddenly jumped up from her seat and got into Blossom's face, snarling.  
  
"I HAD NO CHOICE!"  
  
"BULLSHIT!"  
  
"FUCK OFF! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT HAPPENED!"  
  
And the battle raged on like that for what seemed like hours. The professor didn't bother stopping them; he was too busy watching the report on TV. At that moment they were showing pictures of the scene, complete with the bodies of the alleged "robbers". He'd seen men dressed like that before. It couldn't be.  
  
It was no doubt that those men were from his old employer. but why had they been trying to rob something? That didn't make sense. Something much bigger was going on, and he had the distinct feeling the girls were involved, Buttercup especially.  
  
"YOU WENT THERE DIDN'T YOU! AFTER I TOLD YOU NOT TO!"  
  
The professor stopped dead, staring numbly at the two girls who were fighting like raged lions, their faces red with rage. What was Blossom talking about? Where had Buttercup gone that had been so bad? Before he could think about it any further Bubbles was anxiously tugging on his sleeve. He turned to her, only to find her still partially hidden beneath the table cover.  
  
"Why did Buttercup do that?" she asked softly, her eyes glittering with the new threat of tears.  
  
"I-I don't know honey. perhaps Buttercup was a little too eager to use her powers." the professor trailed off, his mind now occupied with new horrors. Buttercup knew about Medicom, that's where she'd been, and they'd come after her after she'd revealed her presence. That was the only explanation-  
  
"Professor, didn't she go a bit overboard?" Bubbles asked weakly, bravely trying to inch her way out from under the table.  
  
"Yes. I suppose she did. but."  
  
"Why?" Bubbles asked meekly, stealing a nervous glance in their direction. They were still fighting.  
  
"I don't know-" but the professor stopped when he heard his name come from Buttercup's mouth. It must have been ugly, because at that moment Blossom slapped Buttercup so hard across the face she stumbled all the way over to the sink.  
  
"Don't you ever talk like that again," Blossom hissed angrily, the veins on her neck popping. Buttercup didn't move, but kept her back turned to the table, and looked as if she was staring into the sink. "He has done nothing but good for you, you ungrateful bitch-"  
  
And Buttercup spun around, ready to clobber Blossom, but stopped when Blossom spoke again.  
  
"If it'll make you happy, we'll make him tell us, right here, right now."  
  
And the professor gulped heavily, knowing exactly where this was headed, his innards squirming with nerves and tension. Bubbles was staring at them questioningly.  
  
"Ask him what?" she asked heavily, her voice full of stress.  
  
The professor stood calmly, keeping watch on both Blossom and Buttercup. Then, Blossom turned to him slowly with an expression that made him go numb.  
  
"Professor, we need to ask you something."  
  
He nodded; they did suspect something, and now was probably the right time to tell them. After all, White Hazard was beginning to stalk around; they very clearly knew the girls were in the city. The girls deserved to know why they would come for them, which was what was most likely going to happen.  
  
"Where did we come from?"  
  
Bubbles let out a pitiful squeak of surprise. Blossom watched the professor calmly, her face even and kind. Buttercup looked at him as if she was going to pounce at any moment. He took a deep breath, and began at the beginning.  
  
"I suppose its time I tell you. yes. erm-you see, when I said you were made from sugar, spice and everything nice, I wasn't telling you the full truth.umm."  
  
"Spit it out!" Buttercup said angrily. Blossom looked at her angrily, eyeing Buttercup's clenched fists cautiously. If Buttercup tried anything-  
  
"When I graduated from college I took a job at Medicom. back then I was just working on protein analysis. nothing serious."  
  
"Then, about a year later I was approached with a new job offer that involved Xantium, Chemical X, and thinking I was only going to study Xantium effects on human genes I took the job. I had no idea that live subjects were involved."  
  
Buttercup shifted where she stood, and the professor looked at her anxiously. Bubbles had suddenly gone very pale.  
  
"Well, the real assignment was to study the effects of Chemical X radiation on human embryos. We knew from previous tests that Chemical X did something to the genes that created something along the lines of super powers. It altered the genetic makeup so drastically that it transcended all scientific realities."  
  
"So you were creating Bio-weapons-"  
  
"No, let me finish. That isn't what we were doing exactly. it was just research, we hadn't expected things to fall apart like they had. You three were taken from an anonymous donor mother, so you really are sisters, but you have noticed that you all have very drastic superficial differences."  
  
"What do you mean?" Blossom asked.  
  
"You three are normal human beings, except for the fact that you never developed in a mother's womb. well. it was more of a cryogenic stasis. meaning you were unconscious for the early stages of life. You developed physically like any normal child would, except on the inside, everything about you was more than normal. Every cell in your body was swimming with particles of Xantium, your DNA completely altered in such ways that you were given super human abilities-"  
  
"Super powers." Bubbles said slowly. The professor looked at her painfully, then nodded.  
  
"We used different frequencies of the chemical, thus altering the chemistry of your brain. That's why your personalities are so different, and your superficial appearances as well. That's how your able to have such a different eye color, Blossom."  
  
"When I say superficial appearance, I mean the things like your hair and eye color. At different frequencies, Chemical X particles take on different colors. The lowest is white, then it moves up a specialized spectrum to blue, pink, red, green, etc. The highest concentration gives off a black glow."  
  
"The middle frequency is the most structurally stable. that's why Blossom is the most. emotionally stable of the three of you. Buttercup has the highest concentration of the three, being the strongest, and Bubbles has the lowest. But the lowest doesn't necessarily mean the weakest, it just means that your powers in particular take a stronger stimulus to be released. That's never really been a problem."  
  
"As you developed everything was going smoothly. I had grown attached to the three of you. because it was like you'd become my own children. I was leading the project at the time. and despite the fact that I knew what we were doing was wrong. I couldn't help but feel blessed at being given the chance to watch the three of you grow."  
  
"Things were going just fine. until about five years into the project, Medicom wanted to shift the leadership of the operation to a more specialized group of researches. That meant, I was still taking care of you, but was no longer calling the shots. I was angry at them, because they were making decisions and making things happen I would have never done."  
  
"Like what?" asked Blossom. She glanced at Buttercup who looked torn between tears and screaming. She was eyeing the professor dangerously.  
  
"We were already starting to notice some very startling changes in you. We'd known that Chemical X enhanced strength, but we never knew to what degree. And, the super powers: the laser eyes, the sonic scream, your ice breath-" he nodded in Blossom's direction, who blushed lightly, "-the enhanced intelligence, the flying. we were never expecting so many results."  
  
"But then one day they did something I'll never forget. For some reason they thought it would be a fantastic idea to enhance the radiation levels into your stasis fluids. They thought that with the successes they were having, if they pumped more of the chemical into you, then they'd get even better results."  
  
Bubbles made a soft sound that was comparable to the squeaking of a mouse. Her face was very white, and she looked at the professor with terror etched into her face.  
  
"But that wasn't true at all. It was too much. and then." the professor trailed off, his eyes focusing on the ground in front of him. "The entire lab emptied so fast. but I couldn't leave. I thought you were all going to die. and everything would be wasted. I'd really grown to care about you three. and I couldn't bare to see anything happen."  
  
"What was happening professor?" Blossom asked. Naturally, she didn't remember any of this happening, and was eager to get the whole truth.  
  
"Everything in the lab was exploding. Things were falling apart all around me. I tried to stop the radiation sequence. but the machine was so out of control. the sound in that room was so loud it was mortifying. then your stasis tubes exploded. and you three. were still alive. but I had to get you out of there. so I took you home."  
  
Buttercup shifted again, anger clearly etched on her face.  
  
"Well the rest is basically what you know. You woke and I named you. and I knew I couldn't tell you the truth. not when you were so young. I began to believe that you three were even more powerful than Medicom had ever intended, especially after you destroyed Townsville on your first day out. If you were to fall into the wrong hands. who knew what could happen. so I knew it was best to hide, but I raised you as my children, and I regret none of it."  
  
"But, apparently they know we're here now. because someone had to go snooping around, Buttercup." Blossom said very haughtily. Buttercup wasn't listening.  
  
"So basically-" Buttercup began to say, her voice trembling with rage. "We're not humans then, we're just stupid toys for your stupid desires-"  
  
"No Buttercup, that isn't it at all. I tried to get out of it, but I couldn't. I was in too deep, and my life was in danger if I backed out. You know how that works-"  
  
"So, you would have backed out instead of taking responsibility over your property?! Were we nothing more than souvenirs to you?!"  
  
Bubbles stood from the table, very slowly, watching Buttercup with cautious terror. She moved away from Buttercup slowly as if she was about to explode, which Blossom figured, was highly likely.  
  
"Buttercup, you aren't listening to what I'm telling you. I took you in under my own free will because I cared. I wanted to raise you because I'd fallen in love with you. What part of that don't you understand?!"  
  
"The part where we were RAISED IN A TEST TUBE!"  
  
"Don't you understand that I love you?!"  
  
"Shut up!" Buttercup cried angrily. The professor backed against the wall, fearful at Buttercup's outburst. Blossom felt very nervous.  
  
"I could have easily thrown you out onto the street," the professor said through gritted teeth, losing his patience with Buttercup. "But I didn't. You know why, Buttercup? Because you were my responsibility and I was grateful for that, okay? I would do anything for you three, because you've. made me a father. something I would have never been." and the professor looked away from them, forlorn.  
  
"Oh, professor. that's not true." Blossom said weakly, trying her best to come up with something encouraging, but she even found herself emotionally drained from everything she'd just heard.  
  
"Buttercup, I would die for you, " he said softly. "I love you."  
  
Buttercup didn't respond, but what happened next seemed to be moving in slow motion.  
  
Buttercup turned to the professor, her teeth bared, fists clenched, and in one swift motion she lunged very suddenly at him. In surprise he fell back against the wall, mouth agape in shock, as Buttercup came flying towards him, readying a murderous punch-  
  
-But before her fist could connect, before she could kill the professor, Blossom leapt into Buttercup's path and took the full force of the blast. She cried out in pain, and the professor cried out in fear, grabbing Blossom as she fell against him so forcefully that they both crashed through the kitchen wall, only to land on the other side into the living room.  
  
Buttercup stood rooted to the spot, her fist still in the air, but her face awash with shocked stupidity. She'd just attacked the professor, and-  
  
-Bubbles made a choking noise as if she was about to start crying, but then something happened that made the house nearly crumble. Bubbles exploded into the strongest sonic scream ever, fueled by the terror that was welling up inside her.  
  
Buttercup suddenly jumped as the kitchen window next to her exploded in a shower of flying glass. Things were falling from shelves, wood was splintering, glass was exploding, and the ground seemed to be cracking beneath their feet.  
  
Blossom, very dazed and barely conscious, tried desperately to help the professor cover his ears and stay awake at the same time. Bubbles was screaming; it was so loud, the house was going to fall at any second.  
  
Somebody was definitely going to notice this.  
  
Then very suddenly Bubbles stopped with a final strangled cry of anguish and dropped to her knees, where she remained there sobbing into her hands. Buttercup stood exactly where she was, staring dumbly at the shattered hole in the wall where Blossom and the professor were stirring. He'd taken the full force of going through the wall-  
  
"This is bad. very bad." Blossom mumbled. In the distance they thought they heard sirens.  
  
Blossom tried to stand, finding it very difficult as her entire face screamed in pain. She wasn't bleeding, but felt as if every bone in her face had shattered. She turned, and tried to help the professor to his feet, but it was very difficult, seeing as he'd just been thrown through a wall and bombarded with Bubbles's scream.  
  
Blossom looked around the house, squeaking with surprise as she looked at the kitchen. It appeared as if their entire house had just gone through a war.  
  
Buttercup made some sort of unintelligible noise in her throat, and then in an instant she was gone. A second later the front door was thrown open, but after that there was silence.  
  
"Buttercup." the professor said weakly, as he started to sit up. "She can't leave. not now." For some reason he was more worried about her than himself, and didn't seem to care that Buttercup had just tried to kill him.  
  
"Are you okay?" he asked softly, trying to get a good look at Blossom's face. Bubbles was still on the floor, sobbing heavily.  
  
"I'm fine." Blossom said, standing shakily to her feet.  
  
"You have to go get her. they'll find her."  
  
"I know professor. You need to hide." Blossom said. Then she moved slowly over to where Bubbles was crying and kneeled down. "It's okay. Don't cry."  
  
"They'll come for us. because of me. I'm so sorry."  
  
"Bubbles it isn't your fault. We need to go get Buttercup before they find her."  
  
Bubbles nodded, and Blossom very carefully wiped the tears off of her face. 


	13. Part thirteen

Inner Turmoil- Chapter 13  
  
They searched for what seemed like hours, so long in fact that the sun had already set behind the city skyline, casting all the streets in a strange, mournful orange glow. Everything that had just happened in the 12 hours seemed like a dizzying array of shock and emotion, some of it too surreal to even believe.  
  
After the professor had finally told them the truth, Blossom had been shocked to say the least. Despite the fact that she'd known it was coming, and despite the fact that she'd already had a pretty good idea as to what the full story was, to actually hear it come out of the professor's mouth was in itself very strange. The story seemed like the kind of thing you'd only find in one of those sci-fi novels, or even in one of those video games Buttercup always played.  
  
Blossom herself hadn't been angry; she'd been more along the lines of grateful to the professor. Telling them to their face had taken so much courage, and it only made her respect her father more. Hearing him describe his feelings towards them, and his motivations for taking them in, made Blossom's heart swell with joy. The professor could have easily left them to die, but he didn't, and that had to count for something.  
  
Buttercup's reaction, while true to her nature, had been completely out of line. Blossom had known she'd be thrown into a display of over-dramatic anger, but not to the extreme in which she had. Being a Powerpuff, it would have been easy for Buttercup to attack and kill the professor, but thankfully Blossom had been expecting her to do just that. Blossom had reacted just in time, sending herself in-between the two of them before Buttercup had time for her fist to connect, and the dull ache in her head was a painful reminder of things past.  
  
Blossom knew that Buttercup didn't actually want to hurt the professor, but Buttercup didn't know any other way to express her feelings without angry words and physical violence. That was just the way she was, and despite the fact that it had been directed at the professor, Buttercup had been acting purely on her own battle instincts. The truth did hurt, Blossom would give her that, and at least Buttercup was obviously ashamed at what she'd almost done. That was exactly why Blossom and Bubbles were wandering the busy streets of Seattle, looking for their missing green-eyed sister amongst the hurried crowds and blaring sounds of the nighttime metropolis.  
  
There was a light feeling of panic in the air, and between the two sisters, there was probably enough adrenaline in their systems to power a semi truck. They darted amongst the streets and alleyways, directing their search to Buttercup's usual haunts and favorite hangouts whenever she went off to be alone. But so far, after at least an entire day of looking, they'd come up empty.  
  
Blossom had sworn once that she'd seen her sister get on the monorail train, but after a quick run (well, really fast run, enough to keep up with the damn thing), Blossom met the car all the way at its stop downtown, only to find that she'd mistaken an older women for her sister. Grudgingly, Blossom had walked all the way back to the mall they'd been checking to meet up with Bubbles. Bubbles swore she saw Buttercup inside a Starbucks, but it had turned out to be a man in his late twenties, and at that point Blossom felt like socking the next person with black hair that walked by.  
  
"This is hopeless!" Blossom said angrily, punching a marble pillar that was part of a walk along fountain sculptor, leaving a rather impressive crack in the gleaming stone. She looked over at Bubbles, who was winding her way through the slick stone pathway, cascading water crashing to the ground on either side to drain away into a row of grates. Her hair and clothes were completely soaked from the water, and the light spray was creating droplets of cool water on Blossom's skin and clothing.  
  
Bubbles wobbled dangerously, then threw her arms out for balance,  
  
"Do you think she's at the arcade?"  
  
Blossom brightened. She'd forgotten all about the arcade downtown that Buttercup had always talked about. It was a huge two story building that was filled with the latest arcade machines, and at night it turned into a happening bar and restaurant; the kind of place that had always attracted their black haired sister.  
  
"You're a genius Bubbles, you really are," Blossom said brightly, brushing a few pieces of cracking stone from the dent she'd created. She hoped nobody had noticed it.  
  
"Oh. I just remember her talking about it, is all!" Bubbles blushed furiously, her entire face going a fierce crimson. Perhaps she was embarrassed, or perhaps it was because she almost fell over, slipping over the slick black stones beneath her feet.  
  
"Well, let's get to it." Blossom said, pausing to examine a suspicious looking vehicle that had just passed by on the street. "We need to find her fast." The car passed harmlessly, and Blossom calmed just slightly.  
  
Ever since leaving the house Blossom had been watching every person and vehicle to go by very suspiciously, scrutinizing every detail as if she expected something to be hidden amongst their features. White Hazard was definitely out looking for them, and Blossom figured they would be elusive, but also hard to miss being the nature of the thugs they seemed to send out. If she did see anything, they'd have to act efficiently, and they'd have to be on the constant guard.  
  
"I hope the professor's okay," Bubbles said softly, leaping out from the misty structure she'd been hiding in, to stand next to her redheaded sister.  
  
Blossom grabbed Bubbles's hand firmly; more of a protective gesture at best, and began to make her way down the street to where they would most certainly find their sister. As they walked, Blossom's eyes darted every which way, intent on noticing anything funny before it ran up to them to pounce. She was determined to keep them together, and after Buttercup's near brush with containment the night before, Blossom knew that this company meant business now, and was going to stop at nothing to get their prizes back.  
  
Bubbles trotted behind, not saying a word, but she faltered when they passed the horse drawn carriages. Blossom dragged her on, not wanting to leave anything else to chance. On the more earlier parts of her search, she'd felt okay separating from Bubbles, but there was something new that was making her apprehensive, like something, somewhere else in the world, had gone horribly wrong; like something carried on the wind was sending her hidden messages of danger, alerting her to get home as soon as possible. Or perhaps it was just the nighttime jitters, but whatever the case, it made her even more eager to claim Buttercup and return to the professor, to protect him in case anything happened.  
  
Which, the possibility of something happening was now very likely, considering that Bubbles had once again unleashed her powerful scream, this time, into the entire neighborhood. While perfectly normal people would be completely oblivious, to the more trained eye, like White Hazard for example, it would certainly grab attention, especially if they knew exactly what they were looking for.  
  
Blossom envisioned an entire swarm of people with guns, surrounding their house, cornering the professor, threatening to kill him if he didn't tell them where they were. Blossom knew the professor wouldn't betray them, and that didn't make her feel any better, in fact, it made her feel worse. She tightened her grip on Bubbles's hand, and felt her spirits lift a little bit when the building in question came into view. Buttercup was definitely there; she could feel her sister's pain from all the way down the street.  
  
By the time they got to the sliding glass doors, Blossom knew for a fact that her sister was inside. Her painful presence was so strong in her mind that is almost made Blossom cringe. She could feel her sister's feeling of remorse and guilt swimming around inside her brain, along with her own fear and anxiety about what was happening.  
  
Blossom stepped inside and looked around. It was terribly busy, with heaps of young people laughing and playing games, some of them screaming over lost bets or quarters. It was also noisy; the air filled with the synthesized jingles and blips of what must have been hundreds of different video games all sounding off at once.  
  
Nothing really caught Blossom's attention, until she saw Buttercup standing on the balcony above them, looking distastefully down at them.  
  
"There she is!" Bubbles chimed, pointing at their black-clad sister standing above them. Buttercup really made no motion to signal that she knew they were there, but the fact that she was standing still, scowling, glowering down at them was all it took to tell them their presence was known.  
  
Blossom smiled up at her, nearly being knocked over by a young guy brushing past her, a handful of quarters jingling in his pockets. She regained her balance and grinned, trying to look happy.  
  
"Hey Cuppo!" Blossom yelled up to her. "Fancy seeing you here!"  
  
Buttercup scowled and turned her back to them. After a few moments she disappeared into the crowded floor above.  
  
"Let's go get her," Bubbles said urgently. "At least she's okay."  
  
"Yeah," Blossom agreed. "But we still need to take her home. The city won't be a safe place tonight. W.H. will be out in full force looking for us," she whispered, trying to keep her voice low as they found the wide stairwell that led to the second floor.  
  
When they made it to the top they looked around anxiously, hoping to find some clue as to where their sister had disappeared. Stylish wall lights dimly lighted the top floor, and it seemed as if everyone in the immediate area was wearing black, making it doubly hard to find Buttercup. Cautiously, the two sisters walked forward, their eyes scanning every face and every back, searching-  
  
-Then they saw her, sitting alone in an armchair that looked as if it was in the middle of a rest area on the far wall. Buttercup wasn't looking at them, but had become deeply engrossed with her knees. Silently, they moved towards her, and took seats on either side of their sister.  
  
"Hey," Blossom said softly, putting a hand on her sister's shoulder. Normally Buttercup would cower back at this gesture of affection, but this time she did nothing. Her lower lip was trembling, and her eyes were quickly filling with tears. Buttercup's face seemed so naked without her eye makeup, and she almost looked vulnerable and weak with her face so devoid of color. Her emerald eyes were glittering from the tears, making them look like freshly polished jewels. Besides that she looked like a ghost.  
  
Then very suddenly Buttercup did something very odd. She threw herself at Blossom, burying her face into Blossom's shirt, and started sobbing heavily.  
  
"That son-of-a-bitch. what has he done?" she sobbed quietly, her voice partially muffled. Blossom looked over at Bubbles who was watching her sister anxiously, wondering if there was anything she could do. Finally, Bubbles settled on scooting herself closer to her crying sister for comfort. Blossom put her arms around Buttercup tightly, glaring at a stupid teenage boy who had suddenly found it funny that an older girl was in so much distress. Bubbles scowled at him ferociously, and he hurried away quickly, grinning stupidly.  
  
"Buttercup. why don't you just think this through. That's all in the past. and the professor loves us, he really does." Blossom began to say, choosing her words carefully. It was hard to find the right things to say, because she didn't want to upset Buttercup even more.  
  
"Why did he lie?" Buttercup choked, her tears soaking Blossom's shirt and making it stick to her warm skin. Bubbles put a hand lightly on the small of Buttercup's back and patted it gently.  
  
"Buttercup. He just wanted to protect us. We were so young, and it would have been so confusing for us as children."  
  
"And maybe he didn't want us blabbing. Maybe he didn't want us to say anything in case word got around. And maybe he didn't want us to be afraid. Buttercup, please keep your faith in him." Blossom said softly, drowning her face in Buttercup's soft locks. Blossom had never realized how small and weak Buttercup felt in her arms as she trembled from the tears. Buttercup was never the weak one.  
  
Buttercup sniffled and pulled away from her sister forcefully, clumsily wiping her soggy cheeks with the back of her hand. She was embarrassed to let her sisters see her crying, because to her, crying was for pansies, but her human emotions were getting the best of her. She looked at her sister's calmly, her eyes strangely serene. Perhaps the lack of eye makeup made Buttercup look so much gentler.  
  
Bubbles leaned in close, "Whatever the case, the professor still loves us, and that's all that matters isn't it. He works so hard to keep us happy, and we owe it to him to give him the respect he deserves." Bubbles said, grinning, her usual demeanor showing through in the other wise dreary situation.  
  
Blossom watched her blonde sister curiously. She'd never realized how calmly Bubbles had taken everything. Her scream had merely been the product of seeing such a violent tussle between the rest of her family, and perhaps her devotion to their father was what was keeping her sane.  
  
"I know." Buttercup said, her voice very small and meek. "What have I done Blossom?" she added, eying Blossom's face with hurt in her eyes. Blossom hadn't even thought twice about her injured face because she had been so worried about finding her sister. But now, there was only a dull sting, and that she could bear.  
  
"It's okay Buttercup," Blossom began to say. "The professor isn't mad either. He understands. and he's worried about you. We have to stick together okay?"  
  
"I'm so sorry," Buttercup choked, the tears threatening to burst forth again. "I'm so sorry I. hit you. I-I-I almost killed the professor-" and her head dropped again, her shoulders jumping with sobs. Blossom put her hand on top of Buttercup's head and twisted her sister's head around playfully, trying to bring her sister into better spirits.  
  
"It's okay. we have so much to deal with right now. We'll go home and the professor will give you a.big. hug."  
  
There. It was like an alarm; sudden and powerful, ringing in all of their heads like an echoing shriek. Buttercup had jumped, Bubbles had gasped and Blossom had frozen. Something was wrong, and they could feel it, calling to them, beckoning to them like some sort of unreachable claim.  
  
"The professor!" Bubbles cried suddenly. They'd all felt it to, like a sudden surge of panic and fear that rose with dramatic tempo as the seconds ticked away. Something was wrong with the professor, and they had to act fast; they could feel his panic.  
  
"Let's go," Blossom said quickly, and they didn't need to be told twice. Buttercup's sobbing had stopped, but despite the fact that her eyes were still red and puffy, her face blotchy, the object of the professor's safety had suddenly become a more pressing matter. Their own inner turmoil was shoved aside, to make room for a new, even greater fear; the fear that they wouldn't make it in time to help their father.  
  
In an instant they were running. Perhaps it was carelessness, or their panicked fervor getting the best of them, but Buttercup was the first to do it. Instead of swerving to the stair well she ran straight for the balcony railing, letting her muscles do the rest of her thinking. With a powerful leap she was on the sturdy metal poles, her boots touching for an instant before she threw herself over the side, landing to the ground below in a half crouch amongst the shocked screams from the people around. Her sisters followed, and touched down and instant later, the three of them so intent on getting to their father that they didn't bother to wait for the automatic doors to open in front of them. With a mighty crash and an explosion of jagged shards they hit the street running, the idea of concealing their powers suddenly becoming very irrelevant.  
  
To Blossom is seemed like they weren't moving fast enough, the ever-present feeling of dread growing inside her like a deadly fungus. The three of them ran in sync with each other, arms pumping for more speed, chests heaving and only one thought on their minds: get to the professor, protect him-  
  
-But when they made it home Blossom felt her breath catch in her throat, and for a good few minutes she forgot to continue breathing. All around their house, curious neighbors peered through the smashed windows and the shattered door, what was left of the exterior of their home. The professor's car was totaled; every window broken, and every inch of the metal dented. On the road that stretched out in front of their house, they could see the scorched marks of tire tracks, like someone had come and gone in a huge hurry.  
  
"No!" Buttercup choked, throwing herself towards the front door of the house that was dangling from the frame. Blossom and Bubbles followed suit, scattering many of the worried people who stood around their lawn.  
  
They both ran through their front door, terrified at the prospect of finding the professor dead, his body riddled with bullet holes, but that never came. Instead, they were greeted with a holocaust, their entire house smashed and bruised with the appearance of something you would only find in the bad parts of town.  
  
Not paying attention to any of the people around them, who were whispering anxiously amongst themselves, the girls wandered around the wreckage. Tables were turned over, gaping holes in the walls, furniture torn and smashed, and it seemed like every loose belonging they had owned was now lying to pieces on the floors beneath their feet.  
  
There was a very loud crunch as Bubbles stepped upon the remnants of what used to be their living room window, and immediately burst into noisy tears.  
  
"Professor!" she sobbed, dropping to her knees on the glass below, the dangerous shards uselessly attacking her skin. Bubbles didn't seem to notice that she's just sat down on glass.  
  
Blossom stood in the middle of the destroyed living room, surveying the carnage around her, looking at all their belongings that had once been pristine. Now it was nothing more than garbage. Their home, somebody had destroyed their home. and she knew exactly who it had been.  
  
Those bastards, she thought bitterly, clenching her fists at her sides, tears stinging her eyes. Why couldn't they just face us. those cowards.  
  
"Dad!" Buttercup's voice floated towards Blossom from somewhere in the house. She was running around from room to room, half-broken possessions crashing to the floor in her wake, calling for the professor as if by some miraculous chance he was still around. But Blossom knew it was useless. The professor was as good as gone, and whether or not he was still alive, Blossom could only guess.  
  
"He isn't here," Blossom said mournfully as Buttercup stomped back into the room, clutching a very ratty looking Octi in her bunched up fist. If Octi had been alive, Buttercup would probably be choking the poor thing.  
  
Bubbles stopped crying long enough to see that Buttercup was holding her most prized possession, and then instantly feel back into a shower of tears. The professor had given Octi to Bubbles as a birthday present on their very first day, and she'd treasured it ever since. Perhaps seeing the toy now, after knowing that their father could be dead only strengthened the anguish inside of her. But, true to nature, Buttercup wasn't at all feeling empathetic.  
  
"Quit the water works already!" she scoffed angrily, throwing the dirty stuffed toy at Bubbles's knees. Bubbles looked up at Buttercup defiantly, a single tear sliding down her cheek. Buttercup glowered down at her, her expression deadly.  
  
"If you hadn't attacked him none of this would have happened!" Bubbles cried challengingly. Buttercup glared down at her, her face a mixture of rage and sadness.  
  
"If you hadn't started screaming-"  
  
"Only because you guys were fighting!"  
  
"BUT YOU LET EVERYONE KNOW WHERE WE ARE! IT'S ALL YOUR FAULT!"  
  
The banter continued on, and Blossom chewed her lip nervously as she looked around the room, the wheels in her head already starting to come up with a plan.  
  
"IT'S NOT MY FAULT!"  
  
"THEY WOULDN'T HAVE COME FOR THE PROFESSOR IF IT WASN'T FOR YOU-"  
  
"SHUT UP!" Blossom screamed, her anger rising quickly. Now wasn't the most opportune of times for an argument, and Blossom wanted to sit and concentrate, think things through. Bubbles and Buttercup had stopped fighting instantly, both of their faces streaked with tears as they watched Blossom with blank, staring faces. "They didn't come for the professor," she murmured through her concentration, and Blossom sat on the half turned couch. She drew her knees up to her chin and rested her head there, looking at her two sisters with anxious worry.  
  
"What do you mean?" Buttercup said, turning her body to face Blossom. "But they took him, they took the professor and it's all her fault!" Buttercup said angrily, pointing an accusing finger at Bubbles who had decided to stand up.  
  
"It is not!" she countered reproachfully, folding her arms across her chest. "It's all Buttercup's fault, she-"  
  
"Will you two just shut up for once?! I'm trying to think!" Blossom hissed, dropping her legs back down to the floor. She hunched her shoulders and grasped the edges of upside down couch firmly with her hands.  
  
"Think, think, THINK! That's all you ever do-" Buttercup was flailing her arms in the air madly to emphasis her words. It was clear that Buttercup wanted action, and wanted to beat the stuffing out whoever had done this, but Blossom was intent on solving this without violence.  
  
"It would certainly do you some good once in a while!" Blossom retorted, trying to shut her sister up. "They didn't come for the professor, they came for us."  
  
"But they took the professor!" Bubbles cried angrily, clutching Octi in her arms.  
  
"No, think about it. Who's the one person we'd do anything for, even throw ourselves into the most unknown of situations in order to save?" Blossom said, giving Buttercup a reproachful glare. The green-eyes girl was scowling, and looked like she was ready to kill something.  
  
"The professor." Bubbles murmured under her breath. "It's a trap isn't it?"  
  
"Yes." Blossom said softly. "Bubbles figured it out, you should be taking notes!" Blossom said accusingly at Buttercup, but was met with nothing more than her middle finger. "Grow up," Blossom scoffed angrily, but Buttercup didn't respond. She merely turned to the wall and gave it a hearty punch, sending a huge hairline crack all the way up to the ceiling.  
  
"I'll kill those sons of bitches-" Buttercup muttered into the wall, her back turned to Blossom. Blossom rolled her eyes and let out a heavy sigh, and started fingering a loose bit of threading from what had once been their living room couch. They'd spent so much happy evenings on that couch together. playing games, talking, and watching TV-  
  
The very same TV that was now smashed against the wall, the entire screen smashed open, making the inner circuitry and wires visible. Blossom looked deeply into the TV, as if looking for answers, trying to even her own breathing and tend to her own rage. Now was not the time to be vengeful, especially with the seriousness of what they were dealing with. Whatever their actions were could very well have a huge impact on whether the professor lived through the night. That comforting little thought just made Blossom want to think harder, and want to keep her sisters together.  
  
"That's exactly the state of mind they want us in. They know what we're capable of. so they'll be ready-" Blossom began, choosing her words carefully as her eyed moved along the ceiling, only to find that the light fixture that had once been there was now dangling precariously from only a few wires. "-They'll be expecting us to bust in there, guns blazing; they'll be counting on that, and they'll have something prepared in order to capture us. They're using the professor as bait. He may even already be dead for all we know."  
  
At this Bubbles's head jerked up to stare at Blossom with her eyes wide, shards of broken glass in her hands. She'd been trying to clean up the mess in front of her, but when she realized it was pointless, she threw the glass pieces back to the floor with a tinkling clatter.  
  
"Bullshit, nothing they have can stop us-" Buttercup began to say, spinning around to face her pink-eyed sister.  
  
"That isn't entirely true. Remember who we're dealing with, Buttercup. They know everything about us, and that also means they could know a way to easily apprehend us without a fight." Blossom said lightly, resting her chin in her hands, her elbows propped up on her knees. "Plus, we could be putting the professor's life at risk. Those are chances we can't afford to take."  
  
Buttercup groaned with disgust and started to turn away, but at the last second she turned back to Blossom.  
  
"Fine, Little Miss Genius, what do you suggest we do? Form a complex plan," she said angrily, her patience quickly draining. Whenever there was something that needed to be dealt with, Buttercup hated sitting around and stewing over, and felt that the best course of action was always the more dangerous approach. Blossom on the other hand, wanted to go over options and strategies for the safest way possible. That had always been their nature, and Bubbles had always just followed them either way.  
  
"We go in by stealth," Blossom said simply, lifting herself to a stand. "We simply don't let them know we're around."  
  
"Oh, that's brilliant!" Buttercup said sarcastically, but she was disappointed at the prospect of not being able to break a few noses. "So, we'll just hide in the bushes like a bunch of wooses then?"  
  
"I'm not a woos!" Bubbles cried angrily, throwing Octi over her shoulder. "Blossom's plan is brilliant!"  
  
"You stay out of this," Buttercup hissed through gritted teeth. "I need to punch! I want justice!" she said fiercely, punching the air blindly as she did so, narrowly missing Bubbles by mere inches.  
  
"It's not your place to take justice into your own hands. Bashing a few faces in won't make things better. It'll just make things worse."  
  
"For you maybe." Buttercup said bitterly, folding her arms tightly across her chest. "But I swear, the minute someone sees us-"  
  
"-You'll do what I tell you, is what you'll do. I don't want you running around beating everything you see. They want you to do that." Blossom said matter-of-factly. Buttercup was being selfish, but she was also like herself again, and that in itself was slightly comforting. Blossom knew Buttercup meant well, and she also knew that Buttercup wouldn't let anything happen to any of them if the situation arose.  
  
"Okay, we slip in undetected and see what the situation looks like. If it looks okay, we'll get the professor out of there. If something unexpected happens. or if it looks dangerous." she trailed off, eyeing Buttercup coolly. "Then I suppose we'll improvise."  
  
"Excellent!"  
  
"The last thing we want is to end up caught. Now, Buttercup, we need to borrow some of your clothes," Blossom said, walking towards Buttercup, her hands outstretched in request.  
  
"What? Why?"  
  
"Because all you wear is black right? I'd always thought it was tasteless, but it may actually come in handy tonight. We'll practically be invisible!" Blossom said brightly.  
  
Buttercup's only response was a heavy huff, and she trudged up the stairs to her room grumpily, not at all looking forward to a completely un-action- packed evening. 


	14. Part fourteen

Inner Turmoil- Chapter 14  
  
The night air was cool and the darkness hung around them like a blanket, a feeling of impending doom settling over them like a heavy fog. There was a distinct chill in the air that had never been there before, and if it hadn't been at least eighty degrees that night, then Blossom could have easily dismissed it as a natural occurrence. However, something was nagging at her brain, something that had been for a long time, and she was suddenly reminded of her reoccurring dream.  
  
It was the very same way she always felt after waking up, like there was something in the air that was so familiar, and so deadly, but she couldn't figure out what it was exactly. That made her slightly nervous, because in all honesty they didn't exactly know what they were up against. For all they knew they could be walking right into a former villain's clutches.  
  
No. she thought hastily, shaking her head as if trying to throw those thoughts out of her brain. As she looked out at the complex that stretched out in front of them, dimly lit by low halogen lights, she began to wonder if there was more to this than just a place of their origins. It wasn't like she knew something, but something inside her told her that something really bad was going to happen, something deadly even.  
  
Buttercup shifted anxiously in her crouch, the hood of her black sweater pulled tightly around her face while beads of sweat collected above her lip. Despite the fact that it was the middle of summer, they'd made sure to dress in dark clothing that covered as much of their exposed flesh as possible. Needless to say, it had gotten pretty uncomfortable. They were all wearing various articles of black clothing that had been taken from Buttercup's closet, and despite the fact that it felt just a little silly to be walking around in heavy black sweaters in the middle of summer, it was in fact, for the good of the plan.  
  
"We can slip in through there." Blossom whispered, her voice barely audible to an average ear, but her sisters heard her clearly. She pointed to a stairwell that led somewhere beneath the complex, possibly into some sort of service hallways.  
  
Buttercup eyed the two sentry guards eagerly as they went about their armed patrols. Buttercup was scrutinizing them very carefully from behind their hiding place; a group of very old looking drums full of chemicals that were standing at least 100 feet away from where the guards were keeping watch. She seemed like she was waiting for one of them to trip and fall so she could jump out and pummel them. Buttercup licked her lips expectantly,  
  
"Don't you think its odd that they told me exactly where this was?"  
  
"Yes. And that's why we need to be careful," Blossom said, and she peered around one of the canisters hesitantly, going over the implications of what Buttercup had just said.  
  
It would have been easy enough to find the place on their own, because thanks to their advanced sense of awareness, they would have been able to pinpoint the professor's location and follow the trail. But Buttercup had been quick to inform them that when she'd defied Blossom and went to the Corporation building, the man she'd talked to had hinted to her about a secret lab in the industrial zone of the city. Naturally, that was where they headed first, and the fact that they could almost feel the professor's presence getting stronger as they moved closer only strengthened the belief that they were in the right place.  
  
So now they were far outside of the main city, in a part of town that they normally would have never even thought of visiting on their own time. It was dark, dirty, and just a little unnerving. Almost all the buildings around them were metal and rusted, steam drifting out of the many orifices only to blow away in the gentle summer breeze, but not without leaving a very odd scent in the wind. In fact, if they hadn't known better, they could almost think that they'd dropped into some sort of hellish horror movie, because the factories looked as if they'd been abandoned for years, left to rot and fall apart into crumbled heaps of dusty metal.  
  
Bubbles looked over her shoulder quickly, something that they'd all done a lot in the past half an hour. She was looking at the giant shape of the city baseball stadium, which for some reason was built just outside of the derelict they were now standing in. It was humongous, and its solid black shape against the blood moon sky seemed almost haunting. If not for the sparse streetlights lining the roads it would have covered them in complete darkness, and more than once Blossom swore she saw it move.  
  
Turning back to her sisters, Bubbles whispered suddenly,  
  
"How do we get over there?"  
  
Blossom buried herself in thought for a brief moment, and then she spoke again,  
  
"Well. flying is out of the question. if we can take out that light over there-" and she pointed to the large floodlight that was spilling hot white shine onto the courtyard before them, "-then we can use the darkness to slip in undetected."  
  
"How do we do that without them noticing?" Buttercup whispered eagerly. She was still watching the two guards, who had now started talking to each other.  
  
"I suppose if we do it fast. yes. it might work. but our aim has to be real good." Blossom mumbled, once again checking around her to make sure that nobody was sneaking up from behind.  
  
"Our laser eyes." Bubbles said quickly. Blossom nodded.  
  
"It may not be the easiest way, but right now I'm settling on anything that works."  
  
"Won't that raise some sort of red flags if the flood light just happens to explode?" Buttercup said casually, folding her arms across her knees while she sat in a partial crouch.  
  
"That's true, but I'm sure they already think we're coming anyway."  
  
"What about some sort of diversion?" Buttercup added hopefully, her emerald eyes glittering. Blossom looked at her, alarmed.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"What say I sneak up on those two goons over there-" and she jerked her thumb in the direction of the two men, who appeared to have just lit two cigarettes, the ashes glowing hot orange in the dark space they were standing. "-and I give them the one-two. They won't have a clue-"  
  
"That's dumb." Bubbles said reproachfully. "Someone's bound to notice two beat up guards outside the building. A passerby could even happen see and call the police-"  
  
"Wait," Blossom said quickly, the gears in her head turning. "I think Buttercup is onto something here. that may not be such a bad idea."  
  
"It won't?!" Buttercup and Bubbles both hissed in unison, Bubbles looking slightly hurt and Buttercup puffing her chest out in pride.  
  
"They all ready know what your capable of. and they've already had a run in with you before," Blossom said, nodding her head at Buttercup. "Perhaps it would be sensible for you to act like your breaking in on your own accord, creating a wild distraction in the process. They'll assume that you've come yourself to rescue the professor, or perhaps they'll just think you're here as punishment for them trying to capture you-"  
  
"Ah hah. So meanwhile, you and Bubbles slip in through the basement, undetected, because they're so busy dealing with me." Buttercup said quickly, her excitement growing. Blossom nodded.  
  
"But this has to be done quickly. You can only hold them off for so long before they start to get suspicious. If these people are half as smart as they should be, they should eventually realize that there are in fact three of us, and two of us are missing while the other is going insane on the upper levels."  
  
"Plus, what are the chances that the professor's going to be left unattended?"  
  
"Exactly, Bubbles. which means we may need to split up in case one of us gets caught. That way, we aren't in a big group to be caught all at once-"  
  
"Excellent. Where do I start?" Buttercup said, squirming anxiously where she knelt, eying the two guards with intense interest.  
  
"Well, them I suppose," Blossom said, motioning to the two men by the front of the building. "There is one glaring problem though. we don't have any idea what's waiting for us inside. We've already tried our x-ray scan on the building. That didn't work, because they've taken great care to conceal everything that's inside. we're running in blind, you know."  
  
"Alright, but I'll be too quick for them to really act-"  
  
"That's assuming the only thing they have prepared is hand-held weapons."  
  
The three of them were silent for a while, all of them wondering to themselves if the plan was actually going to work. Blossom watched the men carefully, reading the patterns of their movements as if looking for the best place to strike, but she figured Buttercup would be more than capable of dealing with two scrawny men on her own.  
  
"It's the only plan we've got." Bubbles said carefully, giving Buttercup a concerned stare. "Do you think you'll be okay?"  
  
"Of course, when have I ever let you down?"  
  
"Oh, I can think of numerous times-"  
  
"Don't answer that!" Short silence, then, "I'll give you guys ten minutes. After your time is up you better have the professor, because I'll be outta' there."  
  
Blossom took in a huge breath of air, filling her lungs, then exhaled very slowly, preoccupied in thought.  
  
"We didn't exactly think this through." she whispered, brushing a renegade bang out of her line of vision. "Whenever you're ready, Buttercup."  
  
And Buttercup nodded, gave the both of them one last glance, and disappeared into the shadows to the left of their hiding position. There was a very eerie silence as Blossom lost complete awareness of Buttercup's position, watching the two men carefully as they continued to talk. It seemed like an eternity between the time Buttercup disappeared and the time when something actually happened.  
  
Minutes later there was a very loud shriek from one of the guards, and Blossom saw the distinct outline of her sister in the shadows, moving between the men like a ghost. They were confused and disoriented, not fully aware of what was coming at them in the dark. Then there was the sound of a body falling, closely followed by a loud crack that signaled a broken bone somewhere among the frenzy. The entire scene had taken less than a minute, the guards barely putting up any sort of struggle.  
  
Everything was plunged once again into silence, and despite the fact that the scuffle had been relatively quiet, it had seemed incredibly audible in the gloomy silence. Blossom looked out, saw Buttercup wave to them from the darkness, and she took this as their own cue to move.  
  
Both Blossom and Bubbles moved out into the light, feeling their adrenaline run high as their entire forms became visible. Blossom stole a glance to the front door and peered into the lighted area by the front, but Buttercup had already vanished without so much as a trace. Something nagged at her brain, and she felt hotly bothered to be executing a plan where a million things could go wrong. It was perhaps worry for the professor and for themselves, because his life was in their hands, and if anything went wrong for them. she hated to think of what would happen, but it was reality.  
  
"Blossom!" Bubbles said quickly, grabbing her sister by the shoulder and steering her over to the deep stairwell. She had been so preoccupied with worry that she hadn't been watching where she was going, and had almost careened straight into the bushes past their target.  
  
They crouched down at the top of the stairs, looking down at the concrete structure they led too. There were at least three-dozen steps down, descending into a concrete enclosure that hid the stairs from any passerby on the street. At the very end there was a large steel door that looked strangely ominous in the pale orange light that hung above. It almost made Blossom feel like they were descending into the mouth of hell, which they could have very well been doing for all they knew.  
  
Blossom sighed deeply, feeling her body tremble in the ghostly chill of the air. Something just wasn't right. but she wasn't going to take time listening to her paranoid worries.  
  
"Come on, we're wasting time," she said, trying to ignore Bubbles's concerned glances in her direction. She stood quickly and made her way down the stairs, two at a time, Bubbles following close behind her.  
  
Perhaps she had been half expecting alarms to go off, or perhaps for the door to fly open revealing tons of armed men, but when they made it to the bottom, nothing happened. Without hesitation Blossom grabbed the handle, and to her surprise, the door slid smoothly open.  
  
"You'd think they would lock the door," Bubbles said quietly, looking around. They were in a long deserted corridor, one that looked strangely familiar to Blossom. It was fairly dim in the long stone hall, and there was something in the air that reminded Blossom too much of torture. It was the scent of pain and fear, and Blossom suddenly realized where the place was from.  
  
"My dream." she said softly.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"This place is in my dream. Maybe not this same corridor. but this is definitely the same building. I don't know what this means. but we need to find the professor fast." She said quickly, making a beeline to a door that was a short distance to their left. Blossom kept checking behind her shoulder, half expecting the murderous assailant from her nightmare to come creeping up behind them. It only strengthened her resolve to get in, and get out as quickly as possible.  
  
Once they made it to the door, it only took a mere brush of Blossom's palm to set the door mechanism in motion. It was hooked to some sort of automatic machine, sort of like the sliding doors of a super market, except these ones actually required some sort of touch before they would slide open. It surprised the both of them, because they weren't quite prepared for whatever was on the other side, if there was anything strange at all.  
  
But there wasn't, at least nothing the two of them noticed right away. From their position it just looked like some sort of laboratory, very bright and cluttered, a drastic change from the hallways they had come from. The room was brightly lit with glowing white lights, and every ounce of the floors and walls seemed to be covered with some sort of steel, glittering in the bright illumination. There were various lab tables lining the walls, operating tables stationed in the center of the room, and at least a dozen different kinds of scientific equipment that Blossom could only speculate their purposes.  
  
But perhaps the strangest thing about the room, was that the machines were operating, each individual mechanism hissing and beeping with some sort of mission. Blossom walked in cautiously, feeling Bubbles enter behind her.  
  
"The professor would have a field day in here." Bubbles mumbled, bringing her hand up to a machine against the wall that was printing out some sort of data readouts, the paper spilling a good six feet out from the machine.  
  
"I don't understand," Blossom said, feeling something creep down her spine. "There's something very familiar about this place." she said, walking over towards a batch of fluid-filled tubes that lined the walls. There was something floating in the tubes, but whatever they were suspended in distorted the shapes, making it hard to make out the actual shapes.  
  
"All these papers look like data tables," Bubbles said, shuffling the long train of printed-paper in her hands. "These readouts are current."  
  
Blossom walked up to one of the tubes and peered inside, screwing her eyes to get a good focus on the object that was suspended there. What she saw made her jump back and shriek in surprise.  
  
Bubbles was at her side almost instantly, trying to get her own look. Blossom had suddenly turned very white, and her hands were covering her mouth, which was opened silently. Bubbles shook her head, unable to see what her sister had seen.  
  
"What is it-" she started to say, but Blossom shook her head fiercely.  
  
"I don't believe it." she mumbled. "We have to turn these machines off. Now." Blossom stated, and then she began walking wildly around the room, looking for something.  
  
"What?"  
  
"We thought they had given up. but they didn't. They're still doing it. even after the accident," Blossom was mumbling, moving between all the computerized screens that lined the walls.  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
Blossom stopped abruptly and spun on her heels.  
  
"Chemical X experimentation! There are people inside those tubes, Bubbles!"  
  
And Bubbles wheeled around herself, turning back to the stasis tubes as if suddenly the images would be clear. Her face displayed utter revulsion.  
  
"No, it can't be, can it?" she said pitifully, her voice very faint. She was looking at the tubes as if it was something that would physically harm her.  
  
"It is. there's three. boys, I think, in those tubes. we have to stop this, before it's too late. We were lucky, because the professor had been there."  
  
Bubbles turned back to her and met her eyes. For a few scant moments, it was like they were speaking to each other without words, their silent exchange easily understood by each other.  
  
The professor had been there at their birth to take them away from all of this. What if he hadn't been there? What sort of life would they have had to endure? What sort of life would these new subjects have in front of them, if they were to be awoken by none other than White Hazard? And more importantly, what would they be used for?  
  
"They don't deserve that kind of life," Bubbles said quietly. "They didn't ask for it. Yes, we have to set them free."  
  
Blossom hesitated. This was serious stuff. They would practically be killing three human beings, who had no means of defending themselves.  
  
But didn't the end justify the means?  
  
Then-  
  
"We're running out of time!" Blossom suddenly cried, stepping away from the machines towards Bubbles. "We have to find him, now." She said hastily, as if completely dismissing their new find; finding the professor was of course more important.  
  
There was a deafening roar from above them, and the entire building shook as a giant explosion rocked the floors above. The two girls stumbled, and tried to cover themselves as pieces of the ceiling fell in the chaos.  
  
Bubbles looked at Blossom, now considerably dusty. They both knew they had to act fast.  
  
"Look. you take care of this here. I know where the professor is. I'll go find him," she said, and a moment later she had disappeared, slipping into the shadows of the hallway in silence. Blossom stood there for a few scant seconds, racking her brain.  
  
She turned, and took one last fleeting glimpse at the tubes that held the new subjects, a sickening feeling of pity in her stomach. It was hard to tell how old these new beings were, but Blossom knew that wouldn't really have mattered. Most surely they'd never been awake to breath, and most likely they would have never experienced the outside world to even learn the concept of age.  
  
What difference did it make if they'd never experienced life?  
  
Blossom walked back over to one of the tubes and slid her hand along the smooth surface. She could now clearly make out the peaceful serenity that the expression of the boy held. His eyes were closed gently, and his full mouth was expressionless. She even thought she could make out his hair color through the gloom. Red, just like her own? It was hard to tell.  
  
Something caught her attention to the side. There was a flat panel screen that looked as if it was hooked to all three of the tubes. She walked over to it and scanned the text on the screen. It was the life support control.  
  
Her hand hovered over the abort button. It was so close she could feel the energy of the keys meeting the flesh of her fingers.  
  
This place was so familiar; because it was the place they were born in. Blossom could feel the Chemical X in the air, she could smell it, and taste it, and could almost draw it into herself. She dreamed of this place, because it had been so close, calling her back; calling her home. It had been on her sub consciousness, taunting its presence.  
  
But what about her death? The last moments of her life lingered on her thoughts as she watched the computer screen in front of her. It always happened here, but by whom? Who was it that would always end up killing her? Was that person sending her the dream?  
  
She looked back at the stasis tubes and the figures that were lying inside. Could it be them? Could by some chance, they wake up and be ordered by White Hazard to kill her? They were Xantium beings like herself, and would most likely be a formidable enemy-  
  
-But there was only one person she could think of who had always found their way into her brain, and that person was-  
  
-Not now, because something had happened. Something terrible. She had to find the professor and her sisters, quickly, because something had just gone horrible wrong. They needed her; the professor needed her.  
  
Without thinking, Blossom turned from the tubes and darted out of the room. In her haste she had completely forgotten about the three figures suspended in their Xantium bath, and had not pressed the abort key. 


	15. Part fifteen

Inner Turmoil- Chapter 15  
  
Things had turned out to be more difficult than Buttercup had expected.  
  
She was now squatting behind a lab table, breathless and sweaty, listening intently for the approach of her pursuers. They were mercifully stupid, and it had been horribly easy to lose them in the twisted corridors, especially with her advantage in speed. However, these men did have some sort of edge over her that she couldn't quite comprehend, and it only made her incredibly uneasy.  
  
Buttercup sat, chewing her lip nervously. She'd been expecting them to have the usual lead bullets and big guns, but she'd been wrong. As soon as she'd entered the building, she'd met at least half a dozen of the armed grunts, and had easily dealt with them before any had had a chance to discharge any sort of firepower. Then at some point, after a giant explosion that she'd accidentally caused by blasting a circuit panel with her eye lasers, one that had looked like some sort of colonel had tracked her down a particularly long hallway. He'd had a barrage of enemy soldiers at his heels, and they were all carrying weapons that she didn't recognize, ones that the other men hadn't had. He seemed to have known how to deal with her, and as the first dart skimmed past her, barely missing her arm by inches, she'd realized that she was in deep shit.  
  
Buttercup sat and surveyed the room around her, straining her ears anxiously for any sort of approach. She was in some sort of trashed lab room; the state of it giving her the impression that nothing had gone on in this place for a long time. It was very dim, seeing as most of the lights were either burned out or broken, and there was trash and debris all over the floor. She even thought she spotted a stain that reminded her horribly of blood.  
  
She looked away quickly, cocking her head to one side in order to hear more clearly. Yes, she heard them approaching, quickly. Maybe they'd just pass by the room, and she'd be left unnoticed-  
  
-And they did, and by the sound of it, there were only a few of them. Buttercup moved out from behind the broken lab table and peered around it to the door. From where she sat, the hallway looked empty, so she took this as her chance to make her move. She'd have to make her way back out, because ten minutes had already passed and she'd run out of time.  
  
Very briefly, Buttercup's thoughts turned to her sisters on the floors below as she stole her way to the door. She hoped they were okay, and hoped that they'd found the professor and had made it out alive. She'd never know until she got out herself, which was something that was high on her list of priorities at the moment.  
  
While beating up all the stupid soldiers had been simply elating at first, allowing her to let off some unneeded stress and the tension of her bottled up powers, it had at some point started to lose its gloss. It had gotten to the point where the constant barrage of enemies had become irksome, and it had been the same thing every time. They'd barely put up any sort of a fight, and to say the least, Buttercup had gotten bored among other things. Now she was just annoyed, and scared, and exhausted with stress, and she just wanted to get out and go home to the professor. What she would have done for a good hug at that moment.  
  
Buttercup got to the door and peered around carefully, and saw the guards who had previously passed by the room standing at the far end of the bright hallway. Their backs were turned to her, and seemed to be in intense conversation, clearly oblivious that their prey was a mere hall length away. They were also standing in the direction she needed to be. There was no other choice but to take care of them.  
  
Rolling her eyes, she glided out from the doorway and moved towards them silently, crouching her body low in preparation for a pounce. If they saw her, then her little improvised plan would be shot-  
  
-And just as she made it to their backs, one of them gasped suddenly and spun on his heels, weapon pointing directly at her face. Buttercup latched onto the barrel in recoil, and in her blind panic snapped her wrist to the side, splitting the metal cleanly into two pieces. The man stood gaping, shocked by her mere presence. She used the opportunity to bring her half of the barrel in motion, connecting it with the soldier's head with a metallic thwack. He fell, spluttering and bleeding, but the other one was still conscious, and was regaining his composure fast.  
  
He brought the weapon up, and Buttercup heard the distinct click of a dart entering the chamber. In one swift motion she pounced, latching onto the man's front as she pushed with all her strength towards the far wall. They went crashing together onto the cold concrete, and the combined force of her power and the solidity of the stone instantly knocked the guard unconscious, his back cracking with a sickening snap.  
  
Then Buttercup felt the displacement of air as a dart bullet whizzed past her ear, burying its impossibly thick needle into the concrete. She turned, and saw three soldiers coming up from behind, the opposite direction she wanted to be in. Quickly, she leapt up and ran to her left where the hallway branched, hoping that she wouldn't run into any more of the soldiers.  
  
But she did, and they were coming forward, guns raised and ready to fire the needles into her skin, and to fill her with whatever poison they possessed. In a split-second fit of panic she veered to the right, her only other option other than fighting. She didn't want to fight any more-  
  
-For some reason Buttercup halted. She'd done nothing more than succeeding in running straight into a dead end, another of the trashed labs to be exact with no other visible way out. Then she realized all to well what had happened. They'd cornered her. Perhaps they were just a tiny bit smarter than she'd thought.  
  
Her anger boiling, she spun around, ready to tear the first soldier apart, but she stopped dead, confused.  
  
The man, the one she'd talked to in the corporate offices, the one with the nice business suit and clean, gray hair, the one who'd told her where the labs were. was standing in the doorway, with a weapon in his hands. He was flanked by soldiers, and that, added to his nicely presses clothes, made him look very odd indeed. For some reason he was smiling, a cold grin on his lips.  
  
"Aren't too bright are you?" he sneered, his voice sultry and high. Buttercup, in anger, lunged at him, teeth bared.  
  
He pulled the trigger once and the weapon exploded in his hands. The force of the impact sent Buttercup stumbling backwards. She stood silently, wide- eyed and shocked, freezing her entire body in confusion. She looked up at the man who was smiling, still aiming the weapon at her breast. For a split second, she thought she saw something familiar about his smile, then-  
  
-He pulled the trigger again, and as before it shot with a loud explosion, knocking Buttercup back two more steps. She looked down, barely focused, and saw the strange bullets sticking from her chest, ends quivering-  
  
-Another shot and the man stepped into the room, aiming the weapon at her face. At that moment Buttercup felt her limbs become numb, and her hearing clouded over as if she was listening to something through water. She looked up, her eyes blurring and fell to her knees, unable to hold her body up any longer. It was the most peculiar sensation, and it felt as if she has become a rag doll, losing all control of her muscles and functions.  
  
Her vision was tunneling, but deep in the recesses of her brain she was putting the pieces together. She was being sedated, and had only seconds before she'd lose complete consciousness.  
  
The businessman stepped over her, his eyes seeming to be glowing. Very slowly he kneeled down, hovering over her like an ethereal omen, watching her eagerly with eyes that were full of hatred, and evil.  
  
"Sleep tight." he said, his voice a low hiss. In that split second, with just those two words, in that voice, Buttercup realized with a final spasm of horror who it really was that was leaning over her-  
  
-But she lost consciousness before she could react, the snickering, eager face following her down into the dark.  
***  
  
Bubbles stepped lightly as she followed the professor's trail, her eyes darting every which way, every muscle in her body tense and ready. She'd left Blossom's side just minutes ago, and could already feel the solitary silence descending upon her like a fine mist. She felt her heart beating madly in her breast, and taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself, scanning every inch of the cold halls as she moved.  
  
Come on, Bubbles, you're almost there, she thought to herself, and that strengthened her resolve. The only real thought running through her mind was the professor's safety, and that definitely added an extra spring to her step. If anything happened to him, she'd never forgive herself, seeing as it was partially her fault that they'd found him.  
  
But for a bunch of kidnappers and creators of bio weapons, they didn't seem to be too concerned with security. Since she's walked in the door there hadn't been any sort of resistance, and that worried Bubbles. Why on earth would the upper floors be guarded, while the basement below, where things clearly had been going on, was devoid of any sort of patrols? Was something deeper going on that none of them were aware of? Could the professor perhaps be on the upper floors?  
  
No, that was impossible, because Bubbles could sense him getting closer. That was another one of the girls' advantages; they'd developed an acute "sixth sense" in regards to their father, and they could easily sense his presence as if it was a part of them. Whether or not that was part of the Chemical X radiation, or if it was just some sort of maternal thing, they didn't know, but for some reason it had always been the strongest in Bubbles. It was as if the professor had made a stronger emotional imprint on her during her younger years, and in fact, that was probably the truth. Bubbles had always been more dependent on him, just like a young fledgling would depend on the mother bird for its protection and well-being. That was also why she felt so incredibly determined to find him.  
  
No, he was definitely down below. In fact, he was just a bit farther down the hallway. Most certainly, the lax in security was due to the fact the Buttercup was up above posing as a distraction. Perhaps their plan had worked just as they'd hoped.  
  
Bubbles clenched her fists tightly as she approached a large steel door at the end of the hall, her hands so tight her nails dug into her sweating palms. It was a dead end, and the professor had to be in there, because there was no other place for him to be. For the first time in a long while, Bubbles felt fully confident, and even unstoppable. She knew she was walking into something serious, and it demanded her full alertness and concentration.  
  
As soon as she walked up to the door, she was surprised to find it slide open, as if it had been expecting her approach. She jumped back a few spaces, momentarily stunned by the odd swish the door made as it slid against its inner mechanisms. Heart pounding, she narrowed her eyes and stepped into the room.  
  
At first she thought that perhaps she'd made a mistake, or maybe there was some sort of trick to the room that she wasn't seeing, but as she stepped inside she noticed the professor was nowhere in sight. It was just another one of the laboratories, but this one was larger, and looked as if it had posed as more of a storage room than anything else. There were more of the scientific machines lining the walls, but none of them were working, and the lab tables were covered with piles of documents and folders. At first glance, Bubbles thought she was totally alone.  
  
Something then drifted onto her awareness that made her instincts jump into full panic. She looked around wildly, confused. Something was in the room with her, and despite the fact that it felt all too familiar, it made her no less comfortable. Bubbles had felt this feeling too many times before, and the sudden resurgence of the danger hinted in the air made her insides freeze.  
  
"My, sweet little Bubbles." a voice floated towards her from behind. Bubbles had walked in so quickly; she'd forgotten to check the wall beside the door.  
  
"How did you know my name?" was the first thing that escaped her throat, and she turned slowly, knowing too well what she'd find. It was something in the voice that cued a memory that had long been forgotten, and she wasn't eager to turn, fearing what she might find.  
  
Thankfully she was proven wrong, because as she turned she saw a man, oddly out of place in this violent atmosphere. He looked to be just over middle age, and with his suit and neatly groomed appearance he almost looked professional. Definitely not what she'd been expecting to see.  
  
The professor was doubled over next to the man, bound and gagged. By the looks of it he didn't appear to be aware of his surroundings. He was clearly drugged, and by his fluttering eyes and limp posture, Bubbles knew he had no idea she was there. His general appearance was a mess, and Bubbles didn't doubt, with a stab of anger and guilt, that he'd probably been beaten. His dark hair was a mess and his clothes were in disarray, pieces of his shirt ripped and dirty. It was as if he'd just rolled out of bed after a night of mud wrestling, but was still partially asleep.  
  
Bubbles watched the man warily, screwing her face into the most defiant expression she could muster. Her heart was pounding, and she kept stealing glances towards the professor, who looked as if he was about to keel over at any second.  
  
She knew she could easily take this man out, but something was stopping her. Bubbles couldn't understand what was making her so apprehensive, but something in the man's expression was freezing her on the spot.  
  
"I know many things about you. and I should warn you, that if you try anything, your father will be the lucky recipient of a full vile of arsenic." And he held up what looked like a needle and syringe, filled with some dangerous looking fluid. The man hovered it over the professor's neck, who didn't even flinch or seem to realize that there was a poisonous needle threatening his main artery.  
  
"You wouldn't." Bubbles said stupidly, at a complete loss for words. She'd started shaking as soon as the man had lowered the needle towards the professor. She couldn't, and wouldn't risk doing something stupid, because that would only get him killed.  
  
"Oh, I would," he said gleefully, his voice clearly not matching his outer appearance. Bubbles narrowed her eyes, realization slowly dawning on her, the expression unmistakably passing over her eyes. The man noticed, and suddenly let out a barking laugh that filled the entire room, the sound reverberating off the walls. There was a strange, ethereal echo to that laugh, and Bubbles only had a split second to comprehend something-  
  
-The man very slowly lowered the needle away from the professor and watched her curiously. There was a strange, childish demeanor about his expression that seemed completely out of character, as if something about this situation thrilled him.  
  
"What is it you want?" Bubbles sneered, glaring at the man with disgust. In her eyes he didn't deserve any sort of respect, especially considering what he'd done. It was some sort of gut feeling that told her he was responsible for everything; for their violent birth and childhood, and all the trouble that had been happening the past month, rising to a crescendo that resulted in her father being taken away against his will.  
  
Bubbles suddenly wanted to kill him. It was a desire so powerful, it scared her, but she held her ground firmly, unwilling to make any sort of mistake.  
  
"Oh, I thought that was obvious," he laughed. His face suddenly turned serious again, and he lifted the needle again just slightly, making Bubbles tense up. "There's so much potential to be tapped into. There's so much you and your sister can accomplish. for me-" He began to say, but Bubbles interrupted him.  
  
"There are three of us," she said simply, watching the needle in the man's grasp. He waved his other hand casually, as if dismissing the entire conversation.  
  
"I know." He said. "And if you come quietly, I'll let your father go," he spat the words as if the very idea of a fatherly figure in their lives was revolting. Bubbles wiggled her hand absently at her side; realizing what it must feel like to be Buttercup, tense twenty-four hours a day. She wanted to do something, but unlike Blossom, she was never good at coming up with plans on the spot.  
  
"Stupid man." He said angrily, casting a fierce glance at the professor, who still seemed to be dazed. The man then turned to Bubbles, his eyes flashing over her body as if he was studying her. "It has been a while, hasn't it?"  
  
"You stupid bastard," Bubbles hissed, rage filling her like an ocean. "I thought you would have given up by now. You have no chance." She said, throwing caution to the wind. She wasn't quite sure if what she suspected was true, but she was attempting to speak to the man as if she knew his secret, hoping to get him to reveal the truth. There was just something about the way he was acting, so familiar. it had to be.  
  
"Oh?" He said casually, a smile gracing his lips. He then stepped away from the wall and moved towards Bubbles, his eyes staying on her face. Bubbles stepped back lightly out of caution, not exactly knowing what he was capable of. He continued to move towards her, drawing ever closer, and a deep feeling of dread bloomed inside of her as if it was sparked by his mere presence.  
  
She cried out in alarm, seeing his eyes for what seemed like the first time, frightened by his advantage in size, and she threw out her fist in retaliation. He was nearly on top of her now, and instead of taking the blow he grabbed her arm in one fluid motion, clamping down on her wrist like a vice. As his skin made contact with hers, she felt a sense of overwhelming fear that nearly brought tears to her eyes. Bubbles looked up at him fiercely, barely able to comprehend what was happening. All at once, memories flooded back to her, as if they were being poured back into her brain-  
  
-She was a child, angry at Buttercup for destroying her drawings. She was fleeing into the forest, sobbing violently. and a small butterfly came to her, comforting her, telling her to express her anger. tricking her-  
  
-She was upset, sitting in her room in the dark, upset because Blossom and Buttercup were fighting again. She hated watching them fight, and wanted more than anything for them to be together again. Octi sat a few feet from her, and all at once he began speaking to her, comforting her, trying to confuse her so she'd inadvertently "break" up the group. so she'd separate them. make them weaker-  
  
"YOU!" she roared, trying to tear herself away. "I'd suspected earlier. but now that I know-"  
  
Bubbles stopped dead in mid sentence as she suddenly felt a sharp tingling in her neck. The man was smiling down at her, still holding her arm in his impossibly solid grip, the hand with the needle now up to her neck. He'd just injected her, and she could feel the fluid of the needle entering her veins, spreading throughout her body like a flood.  
  
"All these years of planning, and waiting. now the real fun begins. Bubbles." he hissed, a malicious grin following his words. This man definitely wasn't a human, but instead of being able to fight back, Bubbles felt herself go incredibly weak all. All at once her legs buckled beneath her and she fell, dangling from the man's grip on her forearm. Her head dropped to her chest, and she dimly thought that she was dying, her head swimming with barely focused thoughts. If what that man had said about arsenic was true, she didn't have much longer.  
  
Bubbles lost total consciousness, her body completely conking out as if someone had just flipped a switch to off. In those few scant seconds before she blacked out, before her thoughts completely shut down, Bubbles thought she heard laughing. The same insane, delighted cackling that she remembered from her past followed her down into the dark of unconsciousness.  
  
Next chapter: Blossom's capture, and a deal that will only end in disaster. 


	16. Part sixteen

Inner Turmoil- Chapter 16  
  
The hallway was long and ominous. It was also deathly familiar.  
  
Blossom moved down the long corridor, her body tense and waiting. She thought she could feel eyes on her back, but every time she turned to look, all she saw was lonely emptiness. She moved quickly through the barren stretch of concrete, somewhat lost, trying hard to follow Bubbles's trail. It was difficult, because it seemed as if her sister was running away from her. No matter how far Blossom moved, Bubbles always seemed to be just as far in front as she had been before.  
  
The same went for Buttercup, and even the professor. It felt as if reaching them was going to be impossible. Something had happened to them, and Blossom suddenly felt very alone and vulnerable.  
  
Something caught her eye to the left, and she stopped dead, feeling a pair of eyes on her from behind. This was just like her dream. Someone was behind her, and she'd end up running, down this impossibly long hallway, running for her life-  
  
-There was a flicker of movement along the wall next to her, a growing shadow, expanding along the gray stone like a blackened pool of tangible horror. Its form was barely distinguishable except for a pair of matching crustaceanoid claws, held forward as if ready to pounce what was in its path; her.  
  
Blossom spun around, crying out at the same time, her breath escaping her in one fell swoop. Absolutely, positively nothing was behind her. There was nothing but silent, unmoving air, heated in her tense anxiety.  
  
Her heart thundering, she peered down the end of the hall, noticing that it seemed quite a bit longer than it had when she'd actually been traveling down it. It fell into near darkness, and Blossom could feel the rising sense of being lost grow inside her. She didn't know where she was going, and following her senses had become useless. She was trapped, like a rat in an impossible maze.  
  
Blossom could have sworn that something had been behind her. Something had been creeping up behind her, silently, casting its hideous shadow just next to her. She'd seen it- it had been clear as day, but.  
  
Nothing was there, at least not anymore. Blossom grabbed her head in her hands and continued to look warily down the corridor, as if hoping to see something come charging around the corner at her. That way, she'd know she wasn't going insane.  
  
"I am not going crazy," she said firmly, her heart still thundering. This was just like her dream, and she knew that as soon as she turned her back, she'd have to run from something. From something that meant to kill her. from someone.  
  
Barely able to stand the silence and anticipation any longer, Blossom turned and started running. She didn't bother waiting see if anything would start following her. She took off as soon as her back turned, kicking off from the ground at break-neck speed. The thought of death was grinding away at her brain, and it only fueled her to move faster. But she knew that standing there forever would have accomplished absolutely nothing. She had to move, and at least in reality she had a fighting chance to control her own fate. Her only option was running.  
  
Sure enough, she felt it, but this time it felt different. It wasn't the sound of running footsteps behind her, but it was something much different, much more terrifying. She felt as if a wave of charged energy was crashing towards her like a raging flow of water. Blossom didn't dare turn, afraid of what she'd see, yet at the same time, absolutely positive as to what it was. She'd felt the same presence before, dozens of times when she'd been a child, but somehow in this place it felt ten times more terrible.  
  
It was moving closer like a galloping stampede, the flow of blood in her ears making it impossible to judge the distance. She could feel it rather than hear it; she could feel the eagerness, the anticipation and the determination of the thing that wanted her, and it drew steadily closer. She was so close to the end, a door stood before her, beckoning to her like inviting warmth on a cold day.  
  
There was a sudden surge of energy and Blossom was thrown forward, skidding on her knees before finally falling face down into the dry floor. Throughout the whole ordeal, a sound never escaped her lips, save for the breath that moved in and out of her lungs. Even now, as she felt herself smothered by something, by a sizzling, sensual heat that engulfed her like a hot blanket, she never screamed.  
  
She lost consciousness very abruptly and knew no more.  
  
***  
  
Blossom awoke suddenly, completely startled and confused. She felt tired, weak and very flushed, and she slowly moved her body to a sitting position, trying to shake the bleariness from her eyes. She moaned lightly, trying to look around, but anything she saw didn't make any sense to her. She stared dumbly around the new room she was in, barely noticing the two other bodies laying next to her, also stirring with renewed consciousness. She also didn't notice the hoard of weapons surrounding her, all of them aimed directly at her face.  
  
She was kicked out of her delusion as she was grabbed very forcefully by her hair, and lifted roughly to her feet. In a fit of barely aware panic she tried to lift her hands in an effort to ease the burning pain at her scalp, but found with biting horror that her arms were bound in front of her. She cried out angrily, finally shaking the feeling of sleep from her fogged brain. She heard someone, a man cry out her name, his voice cracking with tearful rage.  
  
"Wake up you little bitch," a cold, cruel voice spoke, and Blossom realized it belonged to the man in front of her, who shoved her backwards violently. In her weakness, she barely regained her balance in time, almost tripping over her two sisters who were shakily lifting their bodies from the floor. There was another angry holler from the sidelines.  
  
Blossom looked at the man bitterly, and gasped at what she saw. She'd seen the man before. at the library. he'd been watching her at the library. and now he was right here, treating her like an animal that deserved to be punished for something.  
  
"You." she hissed, eyeing the man with fire in her eyes. He smiled widely, a much too pleasant gesture in the otherwise very dire situation. Blossom wanted to slap that grin right off his face, but couldn't, because her hands were tied.  
  
The binds.  
  
She tried to look nonchalant as she began to wiggle her hands in the wire that held them, trying to determine if she could break them. She kept a cold glare trained on the man, trying to keep his attention on her stare, but he noticed what she was doing almost immediately.  
  
"Ah, I'm afraid I can't allow that. You see, those were especially designed to contain you," he said off-handedly. "You won't be able to break them."  
  
She dropped her shoulders in defeat and glanced downwards. Bubbles and Buttercup were looking around, both of them confused and looking as if they'd just woken from a very long nap. They didn't seem to notice her, but they were definitely aware of each other. Buttercup had her hand on Bubble's knee, trying to regain some sort of support for her fatigued body, and their tired eyes were both locked together in a stupefied stare.  
  
"There won't be any tricks by you three. but of course, that was rather clever what you did. sending in a decoy like that."  
  
Buttercup's head moved upwards, suddenly snapping out of her stupor. She growled, attempting a shaky stand, but barely made it past her knees.  
  
"Fuck off." She said bitingly, and was rewarded with a very swift kick in her gut. She fell gasping against Bubbles, who looked absolutely shocked. She was staring wide-eyed at the man, looking as if she was seeing something that nobody else could.  
  
Blossom dismissed it, turning her attention to where they were. It was some sort of large chamber, completely devoid of color. There were at least three sets of doors along the walls, and at least three dozen armed men who looked ready to kill at a moments notice. She was trying to sort out a plan, coming up with all sorts of convoluted possibilities, all of them very likely ending in a high body count. Not that they would matter-  
  
-But she stopped short, jumping, when her gaze fell upon her father, standing just ten feet away. Two armed men were restraining him, but by the look of his physical state, it probably wouldn't have mattered if the men were carrying weapons or not. The professor wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. He was staring at Blossom, his eyes very red and stressed, his hair and appearance a horrid mess. For a second Blossom almost burst into tears and ran to him, but restrained her sobs and stood her ground, knowing that it would probably end up with either her or the professor getting smashed in the face. These men didn't seem too concerned as to how much they hurt them.  
  
Blossom turned back to the man and walked a few steps forward, feeling a few of the surrounding men rustle with renewed anxiety at seeing her move. Blossom looked at him firmly,  
  
"I believe we've already met. library spark any memories?" she asked haughtily, her voice harsh and uneven.  
  
The man moved his hand up to his chin, a gesture that seemed all too familiar, and looked at her intensely.  
  
"Ah yes. I do remember." he smiled. "It was so nice to see you again. I knew that I just had to have a repeat honor."  
  
Blossom looked down, trying to make sense of everything and at the same time, trying to be alert of her surroundings.  
  
"And who may I ask, do I owe this honor?" Blossom said softly. The man looked at her carefully, reading her. Then he spoke,  
  
"Yes. Doctor Alex Levigne. but you may call me Father," he said joyfully, turning to cast an acid glance at the professor, who looked absolutely horrorstruck. Buttercup made an unintelligible noise in her throat, which was most likely, a sign of distaste. Blossom narrowed her eyes.  
  
"I wouldn't go that far. You mean absolutely nothing to us," she said tonelessly, at the same time wondering exactly what had happened that had caused her to blank out earlier. She was so sure that someone in particular had been around. but where was he now?  
  
She was shocked out of her thoughts to realize the doctor was walking towards her, quickly, his eyes budding with rage. The professor had started struggling against his captors, trying to get to his three girls, but he never broke free.  
  
Levigne stopped just short of where Blossom was standing and remained silent for a few beats. Then he moved his massive hand, quick as lightening, and struck Blossom in the face. She cried out harshly and fell back to the floor, dazed by the incredible blow. At the same time, her entire family simultaneously let out an angry uproar.  
  
"I suppose my brilliant scientist forgot to teach you three some manner of respect. You forget one thing: I made you, and I can destroy you just as easily."  
  
"That's where you're wrong," Blossom choked, trying to lift herself back off the floor. "The professor is the only man who deserves any sort of credit."  
  
"You think so?" Levigne said lightly, turning to face the professor. "Even though it was I who really controlled the entire program? As a matter of fact, you three are nothing more than my property. I own you, and its up to me what happens to you."  
  
Buttercup finally stood, her voice low and harsh.  
  
"What you did was illegal anyway." She spat, her arms jerking as she attempted to snap her restraints. "Besides, the professor is the only man we owe anything to. He saved us. from you." She looked at him scathingly, and then turned to Bubbles, who was still staring at Levigne, her mouth dropped in a silent scream. She didn't say a word.  
  
"My dear girls. all I wanted was to have you three back. You're very special you see. and I just wanted to see how special you've really become. is that so much to ask?"  
  
"There are other ways to go about it," Blossom said, causing him to turn his attention back to her. He smiled.  
  
"Mister Utonium stole you from me. a very unfortunate turn of events. if he had never defied my undying trust. things would have been so much different."  
  
"I doubt it." Buttercup said swiftly. She took in a harsh breath, and looked at the professor, who for some reason looked completely baffled.  
  
"But I never saw you then." he croaked weakly. Levigne looked at the professor incredulously.  
  
"That's because I never showed myself to you." He snapped, then broke into another one of his leering grins.  
  
"Did you really think that we'd just submit ourselves to you?" Blossom said, a fresh plan forming in her head. It would be incredibly risky, but it was the only thing she had.  
  
"Ah, but without a free will. there is no resistance."  
  
Everything grew silent as the words sunk in. Evidently, they had planned to hinder their individual wills, making them nothing but mindless zombified slaves. Levigne could have made them do anything, and nobody would have been able to stop them. It could have been nothing short of a disaster. Because they had retained their free wills. they had decided to use their abilities to help people. but absolute power corrupts absolutely. and with their power in his hands, Levigne would have been nothing short of unstoppable.  
  
Blossom looked at the professor once more, who seemed to have given up on struggling. He looked tired, and he met Blossom's gaze, his expression completely unreadable. She tried to tell him with her eyes that everything would be okay, that she had a plan. but she couldn't make him understand.  
  
Then she looked at her sisters. Buttercup was watching Levigne with suppressed anger, and Bubbles looked as if she would have a fit at any moment. They didn't notice her stare.  
  
"Alright," Blossom said finally, breaking the silence. "You win."  
  
"WHAT?!" Buttercup shrieked very suddenly, her face going a bright crimson. Bubbles suddenly turned and looked at Blossom, her eyes scared and pleading.  
  
Levigne turned and looked at her, cocking his head to one side. He smiled.  
  
"Whatever do you mean, Blossom?"  
  
Without stopping to think how he possibly knew her name, she kept talking.  
  
"I give up." she trailed off, awaiting his next response.  
  
"So you willingly give yourselves up? Just like that?" he raised an eyebrow and continued his scrutinizing stare. Perhaps he didn't believe her.  
  
"That isn't what I said. I said I give up. You can get all the information you need with just one of us-"  
  
"Blossom, what are you doing?!" Buttercup asked angrily.  
  
"No!" the professor cried.  
  
Bubbles still didn't say anything, but her eyes had gone at least ten times wider.  
  
Levigne was smiling again, and he walked a few steps closer to where Blossom was standing. She moved back, eyeing him warily.  
  
"I'm willing to give myself up, but on one condition."  
  
"And whatever would that be?"  
  
"You promise to let my sisters and the professor go."  
  
There was silence as Levinge appeared to be considering the offer. He looked once at Bubbles and Buttercup and then at the professor. Then he turned back to Blossom.  
  
"You realize that once I control you again, there is no turning back?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"BLOSSOM, ARE YOU INSANE!?!" Buttercup screamed, struggling even harder with the restraints on her arms.  
  
Silence, then-  
  
"Alright." Levigne said simply, a smile flickering across his lips. He made a motion with his hand and the men surrounding the room all moved forward. The two who had been holding the professor began to drag him towards a door at the far end of the room. Blossom took one last fleeting glance at him, and he was staring at her helplessly, mouthing her name repeatedly with his lips. She tried once again to tell him it would be okay. but he disappeared through the doors and was gone.  
  
The others were moving towards Buttercup and Bubbles, their weapons ready incase they should try anything. It took at least five of them to restrain Buttercup, while still weak, was putting up an amazing fight. She was glaring at Blossom with loathing, her teeth bared, and Blossom knew that Buttercup didn't understand what she was trying to do. She couldn't possibly understand, and as Blossom gazed into her sister's eyes she saw Buttercup's eyes fill over with tears as she was dragged towards the same door the professor had left through.  
  
Bubbles didn't struggle, but she looked at Blossom, her face very pale and fearful. Two men grabbed her arms, and as she was pulled away she glanced once at Levigne. Very suddenly she exploded into tears, screaming and crying,  
  
"BLOSSOM NO! HE'S LYING! HE'S LYING!" she screamed, struggling and kicking at the men who were dragging her.  
  
"It's going to be fine Bubbles." Blossom said quietly, but she never heard her over her screams.  
  
"NO! NO! BLOSSOM! HE'S. HE'S." but before she could finish her sentence one of the guards pressed the barrel of his weapon against her throat. She stopped screaming, but angry tears continued to pour from her eyes as she shook her head in jerky, uneven movements. Bubbles disappeared through the same door, and it was only Blossom, Levigne, and two other guards who had their weapons pressed against the small of Blossom's back.  
  
"Well, well. I have so much fun planned for you, my dear," Levigne said, and with a wave of his hand the two men behind her grabbed both of her arms tightly. They dragged her towards two double doors on the opposite end of the room, and as Blossom was pulled through, she thought she saw Levigne's eyes glowing. 


	17. Part seventeen

Inner Turmoil- Chapter 17  
  
Buttercup was furious. She didn't say a word to either Bubbles or the professor as they were lead down a long corridor, guards at their flanks. She was angry at Blossom, angry for being stupid, and angry for being weak and giving up. Buttercup just didn't understand what Blossom was trying to prove. It was just like her, always trying to play the noble, all-knowing hero, and it made Buttercup sick. Her sister had just gotten herself killed, and she would never see her again.  
  
She looked over at Bubbles, who had her eyes to the floor. She wasn't crying, but her eyes were red and angry. She was trembling, and Buttercup could tell by the stiffness in her jaw that her teeth were clenched. Buttercup didn't say anything to her, why, she wasn't quite sure, but she doubted that Bubbles was in the mood for any sort of conversation. She looked different almost, like she was ready to snap at any moment. This was not the usual Bubbles walking next to her.  
  
Buttercup then glance at the professor who was on her other side. For a split second she felt a surge of hatred pulse through her body. This was his entire fault, all of it. If he had never created them in the first place, then none of this would have happened. If he had never stolen them away. they wouldn't have known a life the likes of which they'd lived. They wouldn't have experienced all this, with its deep anger, violence and intense emotion.  
  
Then Buttercup changed, almost to the point of crying. She couldn't tear her gaze away from his face, and had to fight off the urge to bury her body into his side. He was suffering just as much as they were, and she could tell by his face that he wasn't taking everything so well. She almost felt sorry for him, sorry because she'd been so mean to him, and sorry that she'd ever said anything hurtful to her father.  
  
They kept walking for what seemed like forever. Nobody said a word for a while, but then Buttercup remembered something very crucial that sent a sudden jolt of panic through her body.  
  
"Bubbles!" she hissed, trying to keep her voice low enough so that the armed men around them wouldn't be able to hear. Bubbles didn't say anything in response, but she turned her eyes in her sister's direction. Her normally clear blue eyes looked clouded over with worry.  
  
"Bubbles, that man-"  
  
Bubbles suddenly opened her mouth, speaking a bit louder than would have been necessary.  
  
"Blossom doesn't know. She doesn't know about Him," she said very plainly, as if knowing that Him was around was no more important than talking about the weather. Bubbles kept her gaze on Buttercup, her expression unreadable.  
  
"We have to do something."  
  
"I tried to tell her, but she wouldn't listen. I tried. I tried," Bubbles looked very far off and dazed. Her gaze went out of focus and she looked like she was suddenly deep in thought.  
  
"How could she not have seen? How could she not know." Buttercup said, her voice desperate and full of breath.  
  
"Because he didn't want her to see." Bubbles said tonelessly, her eyes straight in front of her, eyeing the back of one of the guards. "He wanted us to know. but Blossom. I think something bad is going to happen."  
  
"No shit!" Buttercup hissed angrily, her arms feeling very tense in their bounds. She really wanted to punch something, but couldn't, and she was starting to find that very aggravating.  
  
All through this, the professor never said a word; the only sound that came from his direction was his heavy breathing. He didn't seem to be listening, or perhaps he was just blocking it out on purpose, not wanting to hear about Blossom's potential fate.  
  
"We have to do something!" Buttercup whispered harshly, dropping her head to stare at the floor. She tried hard to fight off the tears that were stinging her eyes, but a single droplet managed to escape, cascading to the floor in one, shiny pearl. She felt completely helpless, like there was something she needed to do, but just couldn't. Blossom was in deep trouble, and Buttercup knew they were the only things that could save her, but they couldn't. They just couldn't do anything, and that was what was bugging Buttercup the most. It was like they were running through water, trying to grasp something important that was way off the shore, moving away from them; the water slowed their progress to a crawl. That was how held back she felt, and that made her even more vengeful.  
  
If Blossom hadn't gone all-noble on them, then none of this would have happened. Did she actually trust that they'd be set free? Did Blossom actually think that these men would just drive them home, pat them on the heads, and then leave without a second thought? She must have been delusional, her stupid leader instincts clouding up her better judgment, because it certainly was being led astray.  
  
"We can't do anything." Bubbles said finally, a new sense of urgency in her voice that was very subtle, but Buttercup could sense it all the same. The entire party had stopped walking, and that caused Buttercup to finally look up from the ground, only to be met by the worst. It was just as she'd expected. They weren't going to let them go.  
  
There were newcomers among the armed men, walking up from both the front and behind. The men who had been guarding them seemed utterly calm as they also moved to face the two girls, weapons raised. This was definitely planned.  
  
In a fit of panic Buttercup looked around her, fearful for the professor's safety. She knew they weren't going to let him walk away, and she wasn't about to go down without giving them hell first.  
  
As the men came forward, aiming what looked like cattle prods at the two girls, Buttercup cried out, and in one swift motion she heaved her entire weight to her right. She shoved the professor into an open doorway, and just as he was out of harms way she heard Bubbles scream angrily. One of the men fell, his knee shattered, screaming and flailing from the pain. More of them were on her, and she kept struggling against their weapons, getting stunned time and again. She was losing an impossible battle. She fell, weak and dazed from the electric currents that kept ripping through her body, and one other man came forward with one of the tranquilizer guns. Buttercup knew Bubbles didn't stand a chance, but she lost focus of what was going on very early into the frenzy.  
  
Buttercup had her own problems to deal with. They were coming towards her slowly, their stunners humming with life as they moved towards her cautiously. They were all around her, and she backed herself against the wall, not wanting to be attacked from behind. They were clearly afraid of her, reading her deadly expression that most clearly stated back off. One came forward, weapon raised, and she threw her leg forward, catching the guard by surprise as he fell over her. He cried out, and just as he fell towards her she brought her knee up and jammed it into the man's gut, causing him to scream harshly. He doubled over, and in a last ditch attempt to get him off her she moved both her bound fists into the air and brought them down brutally onto his neck, hearing a snap as he fell to the floor.  
  
At the same time three others had come forward, and one of them jammed the stunner straight into her gut, causing her to scream. Her entire body went rigid, and she fell limply, suddenly terrified, not wanting to be sedated again. Her body trembled from numb pain, and she looked on, barely focused as she felt a needle once again enter the flesh of her neck. She was unconscious in under a minute.  
  
They were both carried away, their screams falling on deaf ears, except for one pair. The men had forgotten all about the professor, who had been left alone in the dark room just off the hallway. He had knocked his head on something hard as he'd been thrown into the room, leaving him momentarily dazed by brilliant pain. He had gained focus just in time to see his girls get taken away, their bodies limp and still.  
  
***  
  
What a bunch of morons. They have no idea they're about to get seriously hurt.  
  
Blossom's thoughts were very focused as she moved slowly down the long corridor, two men at her sides. They weren't paying any attention to her, which was just as well, seeing as they'd have no idea they were about to get pummeled.  
  
She had a plan, and she was fairly sure it was going to work. Perhaps Levigne had gotten careless, or perhaps he'd underestimated her, but leaving her with only two guards to contain her? That seemed like a joke.  
  
It had been her only chance to make a deal. Blossom thought that perhaps if she was to give herself up willingly, than Levigne would have been more inclined to bargain with her. Thankfully he had, and as far as she knew her family was being set free. At least, that's what she hoped, because the entire plan depended on that.  
  
The only thing left to do now was to get her own body out of the mess she was in. Everything had to go perfectly, because the second they suspected something was up, she could lose her chance to break free. That was the only thing that mattered now. They could figure out how to deal with all these goons later, but first, Blossom had to make sure that her sisters, the professor and herself were as far away from this building as possible. Then they could take action.  
  
Now-  
  
Blossom suddenly doubled herself over, dropping to her knees, groaning weakly as she slid to the floor. The two guards that had been dragging her were held back as she pulled on both of their grips. They stumbled, and one of them swore as he regained his balance, just in time to lose his grip on Blossom's arm. The other guard let go, and she let her entire body flop onto the concrete, where she remained there, panting and still.  
  
"Whaddaya' suppose is wrong with this one?" One of the men said softly, leaning over her as she convulsed weakly. She held onto her stomach, squeezing her eyes and contorting her face into the best impression of pain she could muster.  
  
"Dunno'," the other said. "Sick I guess. Hey, wake up!"  
  
He nudged her with his boot and she let out a squeak of protest. They both kneeled onto the floor to examine her more carefully. She turned her eyes to them, and they both backed off just slightly as if they were afraid of her, which didn't bother her in the least. They were greasy and disgusting, and she didn't want them to get too close to her, lest they spread some of their stink onto her.  
  
"She does look pale."  
  
"Sick." Blossom mumbled, trying to sound incoherent. Now as it was happening, she realized that it was actually a really stupid plan, and if they fell for it, then they deserved to die anyway.  
  
She lifted her hands weakly; fumbling with the metal binds that held her wrists together. She dropped her hands again, the metal clanking against the floor as she let them fall weakly. She was trying to signal to them that she wanted the binds taken off, but she was starting to doubt that they would. Surely they weren't that thick?  
  
"I think she wants the binds off." one of them said. "We should take her pulse, see how it sounds." Yes, they were that thick.  
  
"Check her neck."  
  
"No, the wrist is more accurate."  
  
"Dying." she whispered, catching their attention. They'd suddenly started to sweat bullets.  
  
"She can't die on us. and look, the binds are cutting into her skin. The Man wanted her in pristine condition."  
  
"Oh all right, but hurry."  
  
He moved to a set of keys on his belt, and Blossom heard the unmistakable sound of metal hitting metal. The ring of keys jingled as the guard unlatched it from its hook and brought it around, fumbling for the right one. She tried her hardest to suppress a triumphant smile, and was able to calm herself. These men were in fact, not very bright, and were about to pay for their grave error.  
  
Blossom felt the metal slip off from her wrists and nearly cried out with joy as her skin once again felt cool air. She remained on the floor, not wanting to act too quickly, yet confident that whatever happened, she could now handle. Of course, she could have easily gotten away from them in the first place, with just her legs, or even her eye lasers or perhaps her ice breath. However, there was still the problem of the binds, and there would have been no way for her to remove them on her own. Sure, after they were knocked out she could have gotten to the keys, but how exactly was she supposed to unlock them with her hands tied together? It would have been impossible. Plus, this way, she had her arms free for the oncoming tussle.  
  
One of the men lifted her left hand and started feeling around for a pulse. Blossom shifted herself just slightly, moving herself into a better position to pounce. The other man was eying her warily, waiting to see if she'd show any sign of strength. She could see his finger on the trigger of his gun, tense and ready.  
  
"Her pulse. seems a little bit fast. and strong." he trailed off, as if some sort of realization was dawning on him. Blossom suddenly tensed in his grip, all the muscles in her arm tightening as she prepared herself. He was starting to understand his grave error, and looked down at Blossom just in time to see that her gaze had shifted into a tense and determined countenance. Her eyes were narrowed, and she stared up at the both of them, grinning slyly.  
  
"Shit-"  
  
Before either of them could react, Blossom tore her arm from his grasp, simultaneously grabbing the other man's throat with her other hand. With a sudden jerk of her palm, she squeezed his throat and he fell instantly unconscious, dropping to floor heavily as she released her grip. The other man, the one who had checked her pulse was moving his weapon around to shoot her, panic and fear in his eyes.  
  
Blossom leapt up from the floor, catching the man totally off guard. She brought her leg around and kicked the weapon out of his grasp, causing it to skid down the hall away from his desperate reach. He turned, attempting to reach it in his horror, but Blossom grabbed him by the scruff of his neck before he could even move. She lifted him, throwing him against the wall, surprised at her own power. It had been a while since she'd used her powers. She'd forgotten how good it felt. the rush of adrenaline.  
  
He didn't die, but the force of hitting the wall had knocked him unconscious. He slid to the floor, leaving a trail of blood and crumbling debris as he fell. His body had created a gaping dent in the wall, and Blossom stared at it for what seemed like forever, stunned, suddenly comprehending what could have been if her and her sisters had been used as weapons.  
  
Blossom shook her head and turned away, suddenly wanting nothing more than to leave. She hoped that she wouldn't run into anyone else, because she didn't want to hurt any more guards. She just wanted to leave, and wanted to make sure that the rest of her family was okay.  
  
Blossom kept her eyes off the two guards as she made her way towards what she thought was the exit. As she did so, she never stopped to notice the pair of eyes on her back, watching her silently from the shadows, anxiously waiting for one, final confrontation. 


	18. Part eighteen

Authors Note: Thanks to all the people who have been reviewing. You know who you are. I just had a couple notes to point out. Updates have been slow because I've been busy with school and such, and haven't had too much time to do any writing. However, at this point in the story I've already had the ending written out for a couple months so updates should be more frequent. I do need to make some changes with the ending though, because I have since then made changes to the story that I hadn't been anticipating the time I wrote it. But from now on, things should be quicker. I also need to say that the next few chapters may get pretty heavy on the violence, so be warned. Anonymous reviews are now open, so you no longer have to sign in or be a member of ff.net to leave a review. At least, I think that's how it works.  
  
Thanks to my pals Digital X and Andy for helping me out with the ending! You guys rule!  
  
Inner Turmoil- Chapter 18  
  
Blossom burst through two large steel doors, her adrenaline and panic running high. So far, she hadn't seen any sign of her family, nor any sign of an exit. When she'd made it away from the two guards, she'd retraced her steps back to where the first confrontation had taken place, hoping she could follow the trail of her family out the other door. That's where she was now, and a quick look around told her she was alone, and that there was no sign that anyone was aware of her escape.  
  
That seemed a bit odd. Surely somebody would have been waiting for her, and would have noticed she hadn't shown up on time? Surely someone would have run into the unconscious guards, alerting the rest of the complex that she was loose? Obviously not, because the complex now seemed strangely empty.  
  
It was odd how deathly quiet everything had become, almost as if someone was expecting something big to happen. For some reason it didn't seem to worry her, and she felt confident that she'd be able to bust her way out into the city again, get to the rest of her family, and possibly go to the police.  
  
No. no good. she thought drearily. There really isn't anything they could do. Besides, that would only reveal us. which is bad.  
  
Well. the first thing she'd do is look for her sisters and the professor. It was more than likely that they'd been taken back to the city, possibly back to their house. but that seemed too easy. They were still alive, which was good, and she could simply follow her senses to find them.  
  
Blossom moved hurriedly into the open chamber, moving towards the door she'd seen the professor and the girls go through. She looked straight ahead of her, keeping herself aware and tense should anything happen. She was almost to the door when something made her stop dead in her tracks. She wasn't alone in the room.  
  
It could have been her own fear, but as her heart sped up the temperature in the room started to rise drastically, throwing her into what felt like a sauna. That certainly wasn't right, and for a split second, she felt danger in the air, like a sickly pungent scent that couldn't be avoided.  
  
She spun around, ready for more gunfire, her muscles tense and ready, but what she saw nearly made her laugh. The very same man that had slapped her, Levign if she remembered correctly, was walking towards her slowly, part of his body covered in shadow. He moved towards her smoothly, almost as if he was gliding, and he emerged from a shadowy corner like a ghost, grinning like a shark-  
  
"Leaving so soon Blossom?" he said silkily, his tone of voice nothing like Blossom had remembered from before. Something was very different about his demeanor-  
  
"I'd love to stay and party, but it's really past my curfew," Blossom said curtly, trying to make her voice sound sweet and innocent, but Levign wasn't amused. He stopped a ways away from her, his hands folded neatly behind his back. The man smiled, every line of his face creasing.  
  
"I don't think you understand. I can't let you leave now, not when I have you exactly where I want you."  
  
"Come again?"  
  
Blossom took a few steps back. Something wasn't right. He was smiling at her like there was some sort of big prank that she wasn't a part of. That made her uneasy. Something was very wrong, and she had a pretty good idea what it could mean, but that brought her no comfort.  
  
"What did you do with my sisters?!" she demanded, suddenly very fearful for them. She very much suspected that they hadn't been lead to safety at all, but possibly to something much worse that Blossom hadn't been aware of before. If anything were to happen to them-  
  
"Oh I wouldn't worry about them, they're only sleeping right now. They'll be awake very soon," he said smoothly, turning his gaze from her to look at his hand, which he had brought out from behind his back. He flexed his thick fingers a few times, regarding them with cool interest, and then his gaze shifted back onto Blossom; a pure, cold, evil glare that scared her so much she couldn't do anything but look away. "What's the matter? We wouldn't be upset, would we?"  
  
Blossom refused to look at him, because at that moment she wanted to crawl into a corner and cry. She'd been so stupid. She'd been so caught up in making sure her family was safe, she'd forgotten one very important thing; these people weren't to be trusted. Shame was welling up inside her like an inflated balloon threatening to burst. Breaking up the family had been the worst idea in the world, and if she could do it, she'd kick herself in the ass for not seeing it sooner.  
  
"And what about the professor?" she asked finally, her voice shaking, her insides churning for fear of his answer.  
  
"Professor Utonium is dead. But I assure you, he died quite painfully-" he said, still grinning. Just the fact that he could say it with so much joy sickened Blossom to the core.  
  
"WHY?!" she cried, her voice choking. The words stung into her like acid. Words couldn't describe the anguish she felt. She looked at him, glaring through tear-drenched eyes, wanting nothing more than to lunge at him, tear him apart-  
  
"What's the matter Blossom? Did everything not go according to your plan? I assure you, my plan worked beautifully."  
  
She ignored him. The only thing she could concentrate on was her father, and that made her feel loads worse. All she could think about was the professor, sitting in front of her at dinner, smiling at her, gently rubbing her forehead to calm her, wiping the tears from her eyes when she woke up screaming; an expression of pure fatherly love gracing his delicate, aging face-  
  
It was her fault. Everything was her fault. The professor had been killed because of her selfishness, and her sisters were probably already dead; being cut open and studied like some simple lab animals. All of it was because of her. It had been her idea for them to break into the labs, and if she'd only thought things through first, if only she hadn't been so focused on getting the professor away from this place, they might all still be alive.  
  
-No. It wasn't possible. Blossom couldn't bring herself to believe him; she just couldn't believe that the professor was dead. but she kept picturing him all alone, left to die in the dirt like some animal, while her sisters were carted away...  
  
He still felt alive. wouldn't she have felt his pain? Wouldn't she have felt the pain and fear of her sisters? .Unless, she'd been too preoccupied with escaping her escort. No. It was impossible.  
  
"I should have come alone," she mumbled to herself through her tears, but the man heard her. He took a few steps closer. "WHAT ARE YOU PLAYING AT!?" Blossom screamed in warning. She didn't know exactly what he thought he was doing, because he was all alone and unarmed with her standing before him in full rage. If she got the chance, she could easily kill him without him laying so much as a finger onto her, and Blossom was pretty sure he knew that. But her mind kept drifting back to her family.  
  
What on earth was she supposed to do now? She was alone in the world with no family. Nothing was left for her now, other than-  
  
-Revenge. That was completely unlike her, but all her good sense was thrown out the window. She was seething, boiling over with hatred towards this man, who stood there calmly with a great big smile on his face as if this was all one big, goddamned joke. The only emotion coursing through her heated veins was rage, and the desire to kill-  
  
-She looked up at him very suddenly, a look in her eyes that had never, ever been there before. It was bloodlust, and the man knew it right away. But sure enough, the only thing he did was smile as Blossom took two giant steps for him, both of her fists clenched tight.  
  
"Ah. this is so unlike you Blossom," he said, his voice strangely high, "running into a fight before you've fully calculated your enemy. Hardly prudent. I would say," and he pointed one of his long, thick fingers in her direction. Her anger was boiling over.  
  
"YOU DON'T KNOW A THING ABOUT ME!" she bellowed. He continued to smile, but this time, his eyes were narrowed in the evilest of stares, and almost seemed to be glowing. She watched him apprehensively, because at that moment, as he glared at her, she was suddenly alert to the fact that something was very, very wrong.  
  
"I think you misunderstand me Blossom. You see, I have a. secret of my own." and then his voice had shifted into a high pitched, ghostly drawl that Blossom knew all too well.  
  
Something was happening to the man; he appeared to be melting, fizzling away in a light film of misty smoke that took on a crimson hue, his form disappearing into thin air. Blossom cried out in horror, because the man she knew as Dr. Alex Levign was mutating before her eyes, changing into something far worse, into the last person she wanted to see-  
  
"No. not. Him." 


	19. Part ninteen

Inner Turmoil- Chapter 19  
  
"Why hello Blossom. such a pleasure to see you!"  
  
Him stood before Blossom, a smug grin spread across his face. He was just as she remembered; the long elfish ears, the narrow glowing eyes, and he was even wearing the same clothing she'd always remembered from before. On normal occasions, Blossom may have found it hard to keep herself from laughing, but there was certain haunting energy in the air that told her something was very different about this particular standoff. He definitely didn't seem quite as sweetly mischievous as he had when they were kids. His leering grin was certainly the same, and at that moment his face was bright with devilish delight.  
  
But there was something else in his gaze. Some other emotion that seemed condescending to say the least. It was like he was looking down on her, treating her as an inferior that deserved no sort of credit. Was it confidence that made him stare at her that way? Did he think he could best her this time?  
  
"What are you doing here?" she snarled. He took a step backwards as if caught by mock-surprise, laying a red, crustacean claw against his chest, pursing his thin black lips.  
  
"Oh my, such a temper. I've never seen you so. angry," he said sweetly, licking his dark lips as if seeing her angry excited him. "What's the matter? Haven't been. sleeping well?"  
  
It took Blossom a second to fully comprehend what exactly he meant. As soon as she realized it, she felt a burst of hot anger swell up inside her.  
  
"That was you?!" she sneered, pointing her finger in his direction. Him's expression didn't change, but he just stared at her, amused. "You gave me those nightmares, didn't you?"  
  
"Very good, Blossom. You just may be as smart as I'd hoped," Him said, his eyes glittering maliciously. "But can you even begin to comprehend. why?" he said wistfully, taking a step forward, keeping his gaze even and still.  
  
"You. you just wanted to torture me. torture us." Blossom stammered, now fully confused. She hated the way he was looking at her, and she found it very hard to hold his gaze and stifle a scream at the same time. When she'd been a child, he'd looked down upon them as if they had been nothing more than little pests. But now. now that she was older. he was looking at her much differently, and she didn't like it in the least. His expression also told her that she was wrong.  
  
"Blossom, do you want to know why I did it?" Him said, taking another step in Blossom's direction. He halved the distance between them in a split second. but Blossom was too busy trying to ignore his eyes traveling over her body. She rubbed her hands together uncomfortably, trying very hard to break his gaze, but she found it strangely hard to look away from his piercing eyes.  
  
"Do tell."  
  
"I'd be delighted." He paused, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as if carefully choosing his words, running a thick claw through his spindly black goatee. "Let's see." and he turned his attention back to Blossom, who was standing uncomfortably a short distance away. He watched her for a second, his eyes narrowed in concentration, and then his impish face erupted into a smile as he slowly crept towards her. Blossom's skin was crawling as she very carefully mimicked his steps while moving in the opposite direction, away from Him.  
  
She'd always hated Him, but had never actually been scared of him like she was at that moment. She could now feel the terror growing inside her, and it was so strong she could almost taste it on her breath, as if every bit of her body was consumed by fear. She could feel the heat radiating off of his body like sick waves, beads of sweat collecting on her face, her whole body becoming flushed and warm as she felt the heat on her skin as he grew ever closer. For a split second she wondered if he was toying with her, using some sort of dark magic to mess with her functions. but it didn't appear that way. She was just afraid, and at this point, couldn't explain to herself why.  
  
"When your precious professor tried to smuggle you all outside of Townsville, naturally I followed, and I began planning. for the future."  
  
Blossom realized something with a new wave of horror that she hadn't thought of before. They'd left Townsville completely vulnerable to Him. Mojo was safely in an institution, Princess was, well, in boot camp. and the Gangreen Gang. they weren't a big concern. But Him. he was different. He was a demon, and had powers far deadlier than they could ever imagine. but whenever he'd appeared they'd always beaten him.  
  
"What happened to Townsville?!" Blossom blurted suddenly.  
  
"Oh, my dear, nothing has happened to Townsville. yet," Him said gleefully, his voice jumping. "You see, that has been the least of my priorities. You see, for the last several years my new target. has been you," Him said, smiling, picking his pace towards her just slightly. Sooner or later, Blossom was would run out of space behind her, and then she'd be pinned against the wall. That had the potential to be disastrous.  
  
"What are you saying?" she stuttered aimlessly, feeling behind her to make sure there was still some open space. She was getting hotter, her heart palpitations more persistent and noticeable. The terror was gathering in her stomach, her nerves squirming with anxiety as she stumbled backwards, Him drawing steadily closer.  
  
"Tsk, tsk. did we forget already? Do you remember what happened the last time you left Townsville?" Him said brightly, taking a light jump in her direction. She gasped heavily and nearly fell backwards onto her back, but she regained her balance in time. He smiled playfully as he watched her stumble, and Blossom could feel the evil around him like an aura, and it grew stronger as he casually moved closer, his deadly claws swaying at his sides.  
  
Blossom tried to think hard, but she kept getting distracted by Him. The only thing she could really remember was.  
  
When they'd been younger there had been one weekend where the Professor had planned to take the girls to the Bahamas. They'd been so anxious for school to be out that day, and they'd been in such a hurry to get home that they'd forgotten how fast they could really be. As they'd raced home, something had happened that Blossom had never really been able to explain. It was like they'd gone through some sort of time warp, and had ended up disappearing for 50 years, their incredible speed moving time forward at such a rate that they were never aware of any change.  
  
When they'd arrived home something had been different, the whole town had been different. It was as if a bomb had been dropped. There was fire everywhere, buildings crumbling and smashed, cars overturned on the streets and trash everywhere. She couldn't forget the bodies; the dead bodies were everywhere, along with living people, their flesh pale and clammy, their eyes very dead and hollow. Something had happened, and they hadn't been there to save them.  
  
It had been Him. He'd done it all. In their freak absence he'd taken over, and he'd turned the world into Hell, leaving the blame on the three of them. The world had never stood a chance. Townville had become so dependent on them for their safety. that it had forgotten how to take care of itself.  
  
"Get to the point, Him," Blossom said impatiently. She glared forcefully at him, but he looked positively delighted. He took one more step closer, and was now barely an arm's length away. Him reached out very quickly, as if trying to grasp some of her hair in his claw, but missed by inches as Blossom leapt backwards, her arms up in a defensive pose.  
  
Run, damnit! Why don't you try to get away?!  
  
No! He can teleport! He can easily outmaneuver me. Now that you can't fly. you're screwed.  
  
She was thinking wildly to herself, partially distracting herself from Him's own movement. It would only take a split second for him to pounce on her, and she had the feeling that he could easily overpower her. This wasn't some run-of-the-mill hoodlum and this certainly wasn't your everyday bank robber that could be easily apprehended by just one of the girls alone. This was the devil himself, and he possessed supernatural powers that far rivaled Blossom's meager abilities in comparison. Perhaps, if she had her sisters to back her, maybe she could have held out. but on her own, she didn't stand any sort of chance against what he could do.  
  
"I suppose you're wondering what this all means, Blossom. Well, let me tell you. I've known all along. where you came from. who made you. so you know what I did?" he said, taking another step towards her, and this time, he was nearly on top of her, towering over her with what must have been at least a foot advantage in height.  
  
"I took over this pathetic company ages ago. waiting patiently. for the day when I could meet you, face to face." And he lifted one of his misshapen claws, running its smooth edge against Blossom's cheek as she cringed with disgust. She squirmed out of his reach, and he watched her, glowing eyes glittering.  
  
"So you assumed, in other words. What would you have done, if say, we didn't care where we came from?" She said briskly, eyeing the knife-like edges of the claws at his sides. She wondered dimly if those claws could be a threat to her life.  
  
It was common knowledge among the girls that their outer layer of skin was impermeable to just about any sort of cutting device, except a few exceptions, mostly things that only the professor could get a hold of. Whether or not Him's dark magic and mere strength could grant him those sorts of abilities was only guesswork; he'd never physically attacked them before, and in the past, he'd always relied on psychological terror to do his bidding. This time however, he seemed as if he was more than willing to get into a brawl with her, and Blossom could only imagine what sort of things he was physically capable of.  
  
"You may have special abilities. but your imagination is limited to that of a common mortal, my dear," Him said mockingly, his hips cocked to the side.  
"You see, I took steps to make sure. You're dream, it all began with that. I wanted to make sure you were nice and haunted by something, screw with your sanity, make you start to believe you were losing control-"  
  
"So?" Blossom interrupted, her voice harsh. "Why would that make you think we'd assume he was lying?"  
  
"Oh please," he said smartly. "Being the noble creatures you are, you'd want to know what you were really capable of, what really made you tick, in case something terrible happened. What better place to find all that out, than from the beginning," and he spread his claws, gesturing to the entire room. "Besides Blossom, you may not always think I'm around, but let me assure you, I know more about what you're thinking than you could ever imagine."  
  
A sly grin slid across his lips as Blossom fully understood what he meant. A chill ran through her. Just how much about her personal thoughts did he actually know?  
  
"I made sure to make things get worse. even. attack your own father? You had to know the truth, and I knew, that as smart as you were, someday you would figure out that he was. lying to you," Him's voice dropped at least two octaves, becoming a deep masculing purr. "And what do you know. it worked!" he barked, the sound echoing in the empty room. Blossom flinched, trying once more to back away, but for some reason she couldn't get herself to move. She wasn't quite sure where all this was going.  
  
"You came right into my arms. just as I'd wanted. I never knew you three were such obedient little pawns. in fact." he smiled, eyes glittering maliciously. "That just makes things easier."  
  
"What do you mean? Why did you even want us here? Think you can get in one last rematch before I kick your ass?!" Blossom growled, her hands bunched into fists at her sides. She thought that perhaps shed angered Him, because whenever they'd insulted him in the past, he'd taken it personally, but this time.  
  
"Ha!" he barked. "I should think not." He seemed completely unabashed, and looked more amused than anything else.  
  
"Well. then WHAT DO YOU WANT?!" she bellowed, her patience running dry.  
  
"I knew I had to lure you here somehow. What better place to confront you for the final time. then where it all began," he said as Blossom glared at Him ferociously, grinding her teeth in anger so hard they could crack.  
  
"Foolishly, I miscalculated the strength that has grown within you all over the years. I thought I could take your sister hostage. to lure you into my trap. but she got away. most unfortunate." he trailed off and began to gaze longingly in Blossom's direction, a very delicate smile gracing his features. "Then I thought. who is it that you would go to the ends of the earth for. and who would be unable to properly fight back."  
  
"No."  
  
"The professor. yes. so I took him, knowing that you would all come after him. and bless you, you did. I was overjoyed when I saw you come through those doors, I knew my plan was nearing completion."  
  
"And what is your plan exactly? And what, may I ask, does this have to do with Townsville?"  
  
Here it was, the single thing that could very well explain all of Blossom's pain and suffering the past month, in fact, for all of her sisters and the professor as well.  
  
"You see, Blossom, the only reason why I ever paid any attention to your worthless world, was because of you three," Him said, and he started walking towards her again, but she couldn't find the strength to move away. "I wondered. why was it that three mortals with so much power at their disposal, would choose to use their powers to help people? Why would they, when they could achieve so much for their own gains?"  
  
"Because it's the right thing to do," Blossom whispered, staring up into his face once again. His eyes seemed soft as he looked down at her, and his eyebrows were narrowed in the most studious of gestures.  
  
"But do you not. regret ever helping them?"  
  
"Why would I?"  
  
"Because you gave up any sort of freedom. and any sort of real life you three could have. only to save a worthless city time and time again. and did you get nothing for it?"  
  
"Pride," Blossom gulped. "I-I'm content that I did all I could-"  
  
"Liar," he snarled. "You wish you would have gotten more and you know it."  
  
"I'm not lying," she breathed, feeling her throat tighten as she began to notice his breath brushing against her face. He was so close, he could easily grab her at any moment, but instead, he continued to stare down at her, watching her eagerly. Their eyes locked, and Blossom found it hard to tear herself away from the surreal look of his eyes. They were so inhuman. What was he trying to do?  
  
"You see, you've made their defenses so weak. that they will easily submit to anything. You've drained them of their own initiative, you've babied them, you've held their hands, and for what? Only to watch them die. at the hands of your own strength."  
  
"I would never think of such a thing!" Blossom cried out in disgust, moving away from Him quickly. "You think I would take advantage of them like that? I will NOT use my powers for my own gains. I made that decision long ago that-"  
  
"You wouldn't." Him trailed off, his voice barely above a deep whisper. "But I know someone who probably. would."  
  
"They would NEVER-"  
  
"How do you know? All they've ever done is listen to you. Perhaps if you weren't there to influence them, their psych and instability could be easily toyed with."  
  
"You have no proof that they would help you."  
  
"No. but they don't really have a choice in the matter. You see Blossom, in order to control a mortal their mind has to be weak. I can't very well force my will onto a mortal if they are fighting me could I? I need an unstable mind, one that could easily snap at the hands of emotion-"  
  
-Buttercup, with her flaring temper and ego-  
  
-Bubbles, with her overreactive tear ducts and oversized empathy, but-  
  
Fearing the worst, Blossom finally willed her body to turn and flee. But, just as she did she was swept off her feet by some unseen force, crying out as her body hit the ground roughly. Her breathing ragged, her heart thundering, she tried to stand, but for some reason all she could manage was to turn around. Him was standing over her, a very peculiar look in his glowing emerald eyes.  
  
"Are you beginning to see why I needed you here? I counted on you trying to save your father, and I counted on you-" he crouched down low and once again ran his claw against her face, but this time she jerked her head away -"giving yourself up. You tried to play the noble hero Blossom, sacrificing yourself in order to ensure the lives of your family. That was exactly what I wanted, because the three of you are unstoppable, but one of you alone. my, that's a different story."  
  
Blossom tried to back away, but found that she couldn't. She was actually frozen, all of Him's words beginning to sink in. He'd captured the professor, lured the three of them into a trap, put them in the position where Blossom would, true to her nature, give herself up in place of her family, only to find herself right in Him's clutches. He was right about everything, it was really the combined force of all three of them that had always dealt with problems in Townsville, and they were weaker when they went solo. He wanted her alone, knowing that he would never be able to sway her into letting him enter her mind, and with just her by herself, she didn't stand a chance against him. He intended to kill her, and to manipulate Buttercup and Bubbles. to destroy the mortal world. because there was no known force that could best their power.  
  
"You see Blossom. you and I are not so different. in fact. it was always you who were the only one able to outsmart me. just as I have outsmarted you."  
  
"I'm not like you." she mumbled. "You're nothing but a cold, cruel being. and I have no pity for someone like you."  
  
"Blossom, I don't need your pity." Him said, his voice becoming emotionless, his eyes becoming cold and angered. "I need your blood in order for everything to be complete. As soon as you're dead, your sisters will wake, and I will show them where they have gone wrong. I will show them all the injustice they have succumbed too. and they will help me."  
  
Him stood and lifted his right claw into the air. Blossom scrambled off the floor and moved away, trying hard to hold back the tears that were burning her eyes. She was completely crestfallen, shamed, and beaten. She'd been so stupid, walking right into his trap, thinking she had been doing the right thing. but apparently she'd done just as Him had wanted, and that seriously damaged her ego.  
  
There was no other choice now. she had to either fight or run. She looked around the room quickly, not noticing Him, thousands of possible plans of escape running through her head, each one feebler than the last. It would be very difficult without some sort of distraction, and she was the only person in the room, save for Him. He'd never let her get away.  
  
Blossom looked back at Him, and nearly screamed. His right claw was changing. Slivered mists of black and red swirled around his forearm, changing it, mutating it into the sickest looking hand Blossom had ever seen. It was clearly too big to be normal, but what made it worse, were the gnarled, thick claws that had to at least been a foot long each, spiraling out from the new fingers like some sort of sick growths.  
  
Him looked up at Blossom, a leering grin on his face.  
  
"Let's see how impermeable your skin really is."  
  
And Him moved forward to attack. 


	20. Part twenty

Inner Turmoil- Chapter 20  
  
He came at her so fast, Blossom had barely enough time to react.  
  
Him was on her in mere seconds, his newly-formed claw raised in the air to strike. Blossom didn't move or attempt to dodge him. She was so surprised by his sudden advance that she had literally become rooted to the spot, unsure of exactly how to react.  
  
On instinct she lifted her arm up to block at the last second, and Him brought his claw down onto her, forcing her arm downwards. At the same time it grazed her shoulder and collarbone, tearing through her shirt, and-  
  
-Blossom cried out in surprise, stumbling backwards away from Him. Her hands flew to her shoulder where his claw had connected, feeling the tear in cloth, and the warm moisture of blood; she was bleeding. He had torn through her skin, blood seeping into the torn edges of her shirt, her wound stinging with pain. She'd felt pain before, but this was not the dull ache of a bruise or punch, this was the pain of torn skin, and it scared her, because never in her life had she felt it this intense before.  
  
Blossom drew her hand away and looked at her reddened fingers with a mingled mix of shock and fear. She risked a glance at Him, who was regarding his claw with intense interest, carefully examining the fresh blood that lined the sharp angles. He looked up at her, and smiled maliciously.  
  
"That's interesting." he said dreamily, his voice once again the throaty, high pitched drawl. "Isn't it?!" deep and growling. He brought the bloodied claw up to his face and closed his eyes, taking a deep intake of breath that looked as if he was smelling her blood, breathing in the scent as if it was sustenance for him.  
  
"Ohh, no." Blossom spluttered. There was no way out of it now. She had to fight Him, because he wasn't about to let her out of his sight, not now that he knew he could hurt her  
  
Without giving Him time to react, she lunged, throwing her fist forward to punch. He grabbed it in mid air, clamping down on her wrist like a vice, and didn't let go. She looked at him furiously, then with her other hand, tried once again to clock him, but it was no good. Once again he caught her arm before it connected.  
  
She was now tied up helplessly in his grasp, and the pressure hurt so badly. She was sure her wrists were going to snap at any moment.  
  
His face moved dangerously close to hers, so close that their noses nearly touched. He watched her intently for what seemed like an eternity, his warm breath dancing across her turned cheek, his glowing eyes reading her like a book, smiling-  
  
- And then suddenly he shoved her backwards with so much force she went flying a good twenty feet in the opposite direction, connecting hard with the concrete wall on the opposite end of the room. She hit the wall with dangerous inertia, nearly breaking through the strong barrier, leaving a gaping, crumbling crater in the thick stone. She fell roughly to the floor, coughing and spluttering, crumbles of concrete following her down. Blossom hadn't been expecting that.  
  
She got shakily to her feet, feeling the high adrenaline in her system. Her head was spinning from the sudden rush of terror, making her feel like she wanted to collapse. She managed to lift her head in Him's direction. He looked positively thrilled.  
  
"Surprised Blossom?"  
  
"You stupid bastard," she spat, glowering at him ferociously, tasting the metallic, coppery flavor of blood in her mouth. He began to move towards her slowly.  
  
"Is it possible. that I may be. stronger than you?"  
  
"Never."  
  
"I hope you're prepared to die, because it ends right here."  
  
And he suddenly leapt towards her, faster than Blossom had anticipated, but she managed to gather her strength in time. Before he managed to grab a hold of her with his claw again, she punched him hard across his face, sending Him to the side sprawling.  
  
He stumbled a few steps to her left, momentarily stunned. Blossom moved away from Him quickly, attempting to put feeling back into her fist by shaking it wildly.  
  
"You'll regret that," he hissed, turning to face her once again. Blossom could see a small trickle of blood slide down his chin, and could see the fresh crimson on his pointed canines. His face was contorted in the strongest expression of anger Blossom had ever seen.  
  
"Perhaps this will be harder than you anticipated," Blossom said, her voice very cold. Her head was spinning with millions of different ways she could fight Him, but for some reason she just found herself confused. She had absolutely no idea what she intended to do next, except try to stay alive.  
  
Him wiped the blood from his mouth with a delicate claw, and then very suddenly he let out a roar and swiped at her again. The newly formed claw sliced through the air heavily with a huge whoosh of moving air. Blossom barely moved in time, the claw bearing down on the space she had occupied just seconds before, crashing down onto the wire mesh floor with a shower of hot sparks.  
  
Oh shit.  
  
The only thing she could do was dodge his gnarled hand. He had already proven that he could now tear her skin open, and Blossom had enough sense to know that impaling wasn't an exception to the new rule. In fact, if he managed to stab her, he would win and she'd be dead. Blossom wasn't about to let that happen.  
  
"That's a neat trick you got there. the whole claw changing thing," Blossom said with a light smirk, trying her hardest to sound composed and amused. He didn't buy it. She knew that her trembling and excessive sweating must have given her away.  
  
He grinned, and threw his entire arm back, readying another strike.  
  
"You have no chance," He snarled.  
  
He looked positively livid, with his black hair falling over his face, his light frill distinctly more ruffled than it had been before, and his entire expression deadly. Him definitely meant to kill her this time.  
  
Him was open for an attack. His clawed hand was out of the way. Maybe, just maybe-  
  
Blossom knew she was running out of time. Without thinking she threw herself at him again, mustering all her strength into every fist. She hit Him, again and again, and he wasn't even trying to fight back as she released her anger onto his face and upper body. He just stumbled backwards as Blossom's fists continued to fly, but finally he fell to his knees, monstrous and silent.  
  
Blossom jumped backwards out of arms reach, surveying her work. He wasn't dead or unconscious, but there were fresh cuts on his exposed skin, seeping small amounts of reddish fluid, mingling with newborn bruises on his body. His breathing was ragged and heavy, and he certainly looked weaker than before. Blossom thought she had stopped him, and was seriously considering making a run for it, when-  
  
Him's head snapped upwards very suddenly- "Are you quite finished?!"  
  
Then his lips curled into another smile, and he got strongly to his feet, apparently unfazed by Blossom's power. She looked around wildly, suddenly very intent on getting away, but Him would have none of that.  
  
At that moment when her guard had been down he came down on her, slapping her hard on the shoulder with his normal claw, sending fresh tendrils of bloodied pain through her body. She fell to her knees roughly, feeling the stinging sensation of freshly opened cuts.  
  
She looked up, and he stood over her like an impending doom. At any moment, he would bring his morphed claw in for the kill. Very slowly, he extended his arm back, grinning wickedly-  
  
-Blossom watched him fiercely, barely aware of the warm tingling feeling that had begun to accumulate in the space behind her eyes. There was only one last chance, and she had to do it fast-  
  
"See you in hell." was all Him said, and he was about to rip her cleanly apart when she suddenly cried out, concentrating every bit of her consciousness on her task. At that moment the fuzzy sensation behind her eyes exploded in a dazzling ray of charged energy, which burst from her eyes with the force of a rampaging semi.  
  
Him reeled backwards, both of his arms scratching at his face in an attempt to ward off the pain, but Blossom had managed a direct hit.  
  
It didn't have quite the effect she had wanted, which had been to outright kill, but he was in enough pain that she had a chance to get to her feet. Again she stood, now trying to shake away the funny, buzzing feeling inside her head.  
  
He moved his arms away from his face and Blossom could see that he appeared unscathed, except for the light smell of burning flesh, and the ribbons of steam that were fizzling away from his face. In fact, he may have looked even angrier than he had been before.  
  
"That hurt."  
  
"That was the idea."  
  
Without thinking, Blossom jumped at Him again, the only thing going through her mind was the desire to kill Him, her body completely on autopilot. She was so focused that she ignored every fresh scratch and every new bruise that was forced upon her from her constant hits, the pain beating relentlessly at her to no avail. She never tired, even though her pounding heart threatened to burst from her chest.  
  
She was so focused on dealing her own damage onto the demon before her that she barely noticed in time the gnarled claw coming straight for her neck like a javelin. She cried out loudly in surprise, and as she tried to dodge she stumbled, her legs tangling up beneath her. She came down heavily, gravity clearly not on her side.  
  
Him raised his clawed arm and looked at Blossom, excitement washed over his face.  
  
"I doooo like skewers."  
  
Blossom screamed wordlessly, the sound of her cry echoing pointlessly off the far walls of the compound, only to be heard by no one. 


	21. Part twentyone

Inner Turmoil- Chapter 21  
  
Oh no, oh no.  
  
Professor Utonium peeked around the corner down a long hallway, his face flushed and sweaty. He hadn't seen anything like a guard in the past 30 minutes, and instead of that calming him down, it actually made him uneasier.  
  
He looked around, noted that the coast was clear, and then hurried down the dimly lit passageway, searching for any sort of evidence of a struggle. It wasn't likely that there would be one, because the heavily armed soldiers had knocked Buttercup and Bubbles out with tranquilizer just seconds after Buttercup had shoved him into an empty room.  
  
The professor rubbed his head. He'd landed on something hard, and it had left him dazed for just a few moments, but that had been long enough for the soldiers to cart his two daughters away. Now, he was trying to look for them, not really knowing where exactly to go.  
  
He knew which room they'd be in, emergency stasis, but where that was he couldn't quite remember. The professor was busy looking for some sort of signpost on the wall for directions, when a very strange sound caught his attention.  
  
It was a very faint, but constant beeping sound that the professor knew all too well. It was an ECG. That could only mean.  
  
It was coming from his left; from a room that appeared to be empty from the portion of it he could see through the thick glass window. Cautiously he put his hand to the cool metal door, feeling it slide beneath his fingers as it opened, only to reveal an empty room.  
  
The professor peered inside cautiously, then cried out softly when he saw the occupants. Behind a thick glass window he could see both Bubbles and Buttercup, unconscious and very still. He ran into the room with renewed urgency, searching for the door that would lead him into the operating portion of the chamber.  
  
The observation half of the room was separated by a large complicated control panel and a thick glass window that looked out onto the operating tables and stasis tubes. An airtight door blocked him from his daughters, but he opened it with the pressing of a button on the control deck.  
  
The door opened with a light swish and the professor hurried into the room, relief flooding him for the first time that night. Buttercup was lying motionless on what appeared to be an operating table, various instruments strewn about, but thankfully she looked to be in good health. It was as if someone had been prepared to do something, but had left in mid-task.  
  
The professor looked around, double-checking to make sure there was no sign that this person was planning on coming back soon. Satisfied, he hurried to his daughter's side and examined her carefully.  
  
She was unconscious, but her breathing and heart rate were perfectly normal. The professor looked around for something he could use to wake her, but never found what he was looking for. Realizing he'd have to wake her manually, he gently tapped her face and shook her lightly to get her to open her eyes.  
  
Buttercup opened her eyes very suddenly and shot up quickly, taking the professor completely by surprise. He stumbled backwards and spilled over the tray of operating instruments with a particularly loud clatter. He hadn't been expecting her to wake so easily.  
  
She turned to him with a bewildered expression on her face.  
  
"Professor?"  
  
He nodded quietly. Buttercup looked around, and spotted Bubbles, who at that moment was being contained in an empty stasis tube. She was upright, and her mouth and nose were covered with a very thick plug, presumably for oxygen. Her eyes were closed, and she looked eerily peaceful with the strange blue hue of the glass reflecting off her skin and hair.  
  
Professor Utonium hurried over to the thick glass container and examined it carefully. It was locked by a keypad, and the professor lost hope when he realized there was no way he could open it without a code. He doubted that the glass could be broken.  
  
Buttercup had swung herself off the table and landed onto the ground, swaying just slightly. She walked over to join the professor at Bubbles's side, and looked at him incredulously.  
  
"Oh, move over," she said very haughtily, and the next second the entire keypad mechanism was dangling precariously from the unit, fizzing and popping with severed electric wires. Buttercup had punched her fist entirely into the electric keypad, and had torn it open, the lock releasing because of mechanical failure.  
  
There was then an orchestration of various beeps and chimes from the instruments around the tube as the entire machine went a bit haywire, canceling the containment stage.  
  
The front part of the glass slid open with a soft burst of trapped air, and Bubbles woke instantly. With a muffled gasp she tore the plug off her face and stumbled out of the tube, gasping and coughing. She blinked twice, and finally noticed the professor who had caught her just before she'd fallen.  
  
"Professor!" she squeaked weakly, her voice partially fearful. He didn't say anything, not knowing exactly what he should say, and his mind suddenly turned to Blossom.  
  
"Where is she?" he said tonelessly, not really expecting any answer, because none of them knew where she was, except-  
  
"Blossom's in trouble," Buttercup said very abruptly. Her eyes had suddenly gone wide and her whole body had become rigid. Bubbles had also suddenly frozen in the professor's arms and he noticed it. "She needs us."  
  
As if on cue, a very strange sound met the professor's ears. It was very far-off and haunting, almost sounding like a scream; a female cry so weak and scared it made his blood run cold; every fatherly instinct that had grown inside him the past twelve years told him it was his little girl crying out, hurt or dying. As the strangled cry died out, fading away like some ethereal ghost, the professor tightened his grip on Bubbles, as if fearful that she would also disappear with the strange cry.  
  
As the scream faded, Bubbles suddenly let out a heavy gasp as if she'd suddenly realized something, or as if something had suddenly shocked her that she couldn't see. Buttercup looked over at them, her expression mixed with urgency and worry. The professor understood instantly; it had to have been Blossom, there was no other explanation, and the girls before him were the only things that could save her, if there was still something left to be saved.  
  
"Go. I'll be fine." He said, feeling his lip trembling with oncoming anguish. He held the tears back, biting his lip tightly; he had to stay strong and focused.  
  
The girls nodded in unison, and Bubbles gave the professor one last saddened look as if afraid she'd never see him again. He nodded quickly to her, and gently shoved her towards Buttercup, who was making her way towards the entrance.  
  
With one last fleeting look in the professor's direction the girls were gone, running towards some unseen horror, hoping beyond hope that they wouldn't find their sister dead.  
  
***  
  
"NOOOO!"  
  
Panic, panic!  
  
The gigantic claws were coming straight for her chest. She would die instantly. She'd have to act fast.  
  
Blossom heaved her lower body up with the strength of her arms, extending her leg outward, landing it brutally upon Him's chest. He was stopped in mid-swing, and he flew backwards to the other side of the room, creating a fresh, crumbling dent in the wall.  
  
With an angry roar he was up in a flash, once again charging for Blossom like a raging bull. As soon as he was upon her she let loose another hailing storm of hits, which were blocked easily by Him's increase in power. What was strange was that he didn't even try to fight back. He'd run for her as if he was going to attack. but it was like he was allowing her to make the first move. Throughout the last fifteen minutes while she'd been fighting him, all he did was block her punches, and whenever she fumbled or hesitated, he did something to knock her down. He only attempted to harm her when she was out of the fight, and Blossom was finding that very frustrating. Him was making it very difficult, and was only succeeding in making her try harder to deal some sort of damage, because at this rate she wasn't getting far.  
  
He's trying to tire you. He wants you to exhaust yourself so that you'll be too weak to fight him off of you.  
  
It was a good thing that her brain knew what was going on, but it didn't make her feel any better. Of course that was what he was trying to do. He was trying to wear her out. That was why he wasn't actually fighting back until she fell, because it would be harder for her to defend herself if she was tired and on her back. It made perfect sense.  
  
She was in fact starting to tire fast, and wasn't going to be able to hold out much longer; her muscles were already starting to burn from fatigue and cried out in protest whenever she attempted to enlist their help. Unlike Him, Blossom was still human, Powerpuff or not, and she'd never exactly had a fight this intense before. He on the other hand, still seemed as if he could carry on for ages, and didn't look as if he was going to tucker out anytime soon; to say the least, the odds were steadily moving in Him's favor.  
  
She hadn't been expecting it. In fact, she'd forgotten all about it. It happened too fast for her to react properly. Him tripped her up and she fell backwards, waving her arms to gain balance. She managed to stay upright, but that wasn't enough.  
  
Him suddenly opened his mouth wide and hissed, a flashing jet of sizzling acid propelled towards her so suddenly; she only had time to let out a small "Oh" of surprise as it butted into her chest. It was so powerful, that Blossom was once again sent crashing against the wall, but this time, she couldn't get up. It was too difficult to muster the strength to move out of the way, that she was doomed as soon as he'd opened his mouth. It was as if some strange magic had turned all her muscles into lead weights, and Blossom dimly mused that that probably wasn't far from the truth.  
  
She lay heavily against the cold stone, half leaning, half standing against the wall, looking at nothing more than the floor. Her hair covered her face like a veil, and she dimly thought that was better, that way she couldn't see Him coming towards her for the last time; his claw up and ready, his face absolutely thrilled at his luck. There was no possible way that she could have moved. Every response her muscles gave were slow and sluggish, barely fit to fight Him and longer.  
  
Several things then happened in very quick succession.  
  
Blossom suddenly felt Him grab a huge handful of her tangled hair, wrenching her face upwards to meet his own. He forced her brutally against the wall, making every piece of the building shudder ominously. It was very quick, but to Blossom it seemed like an eternity.  
  
"I was contemplating finishing you off quickly-"  
  
She looked up at him blankly, her eyes seeing, but barely focused.  
  
"But you've really pissed me off my dear, trying to fight me off like that- "  
  
Blossom tried to say something, her mouth opened, but no words escaped her throat. She was shaking, from pain and fear, and knew that she was about to die. It was only a matter of time.  
  
"So I think I'll take my time. perhaps I'll start with this-"  
  
Then Blossom felt searing pain in her abdomen that quickly spread to her entire body like a wildfire. It never really registered in her barely focused brain what he'd just done, until she realized with a sudden rush of panic that she was falling forward, her legs suddenly giving out from under her.  
  
Very suddenly, without control, she released a strangled cry of pain, her hands fumbling for something to grab onto, latching onto Him involuntarily. He violently wrenched his clenched fist free from her stomach, thin rivulets of her own blood following his claw, pattering to the floor like tiny liquid rubies. She screamed, finally fully aware of the excruciating pain that was tearing through her body; Him's high pitched, squealing laughter mingling with Blossom's cry, creating a chorus of hell. Blossom then fell heavily to her knees, barely able to keep herself up, trembling and jerking every movement as she clutched her bleeding stomach.  
  
She moved her hands away, without even realizing what she was doing, and watched with ghostly wonder as her own blood slid down her arm. She'd never seen so much blood in her life. never her own blood. and it came out faster when her heart beat harder. It was pouring out like a hose.  
  
She fell on all fours, Him still standing over her, screeching like a deranged banshee, but she tried to shut him out. Purely on instinct she tried to crawl away, barely aware that her body and mind were separating very slowly, her eyes becoming heavy and drowsy. She felt sick and lightheaded, her innards a jumbled, squirmy mess of nerves and pain. Her bloodied hand slid on the floor just slightly, smearing a gory trail of fluid as she tried to get away.  
  
Him made no motion to follow her. He just stood behind her, laughing-  
  
With a shuddering crash Blossom fell, unable to go on. She lay on her side exhausted, still clutching her bleeding hole, feeling her life fluid drain with an awed, barely aware interest. Her sides heaved rapidly, each gasping breath a chore, her mind fogging up with only one mingling thought; she was dying. Him had actually stabbed her with his mutated claw; he'd actually beaten her.  
  
Blossom was about to close her eyes when a new sensation forced her to stay conscious. She actually felt Him move closer behind her, because she felt the heat rise on her skin. He was standing right over Blossom, and in one fluid motion he scooped her off the ground, holding her throbbing neck in his original claw. Blossom was forced roughly to her feet as new puddles of crimson fluid pattered around her. He brought her face just inches away from his own, and she could feel the heat of his breath on her skin.  
  
"Now the real fun begins." he breathed, his voice a thick throaty purr that sent a rather unpleasant jolt through Blossom's wound. He was watching her with intense interest, and slowly Blossom tried to close her eyes, trying so hard to shut off her imagination that was throwing out all the possible things he was going to do to her. but something new caught her attention, something she hadn't been expecting.  
  
No. not possible. she thought sluggishly, but it was as clear as day. The forms of her two sisters, Buttercup and Bubbles slid into her blurring vision, moving into place behind Him. He clearly hadn't noticed them enter the room, but he jerked just slightly as Buttercup let out a muffled scream; more than likely her reaction to the bloody scene before her.  
  
Very slowly Him turned his head in their direction, grinning wickedly, and they both looked at him with their eyes wide and staring. He was glaring at them, smiling, but for a moment none of them spoke. Everything seemed to have frozen, except for Blossom's blood, which continued to flow evenly.  
  
Buttercup gulped thickly, "Let her go Him," she said very softly. In fact, Buttercup's voice had never been so quiet before.  
  
"Blossom?" Bubbles cried softly, fresh tears in her eyes. Bubbles looked absolutely torn apart, and she was watching Blossom, terrified, but Blossom couldn't respond.  
  
"And why would I want that?" Him replied airily, but through her pain Blossom thought she felt Him trembling.  
  
"Because if you don't, I'll-" Buttercup hollered, and she took one flying leap at Him, ready to strike, but stopped dead when Blossom suddenly screamed in pain.  
  
"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" he snarled, tightening even harder on Blossom's throat, nearly cutting off her air supply. "Your sister's life depends on you staying right there."  
  
"Buttercup. Blossom, she's-" Bubbles stuttered, grabbing Buttercup roughly by the shoulder.  
  
"I see it Bubbles!" Buttercup said angrily, her voice jumping with trembling rage. She jerked away from Bubbles's grasp and took a very cautious step forward, pushing her luck. "I swear Him. when I get through with you."  
  
"Oh. but you're just in time for the. show." and Him raised his claw again threateningly, this time, ready to slit Blossom's throat. Blossom barely noticed, and watched Him's claw loom over her face lazily, partially in a dream.  
  
"LET HER GO!" Bubbles suddenly screamed, with a hidden fury that she very rarely possessed. Blossom tuned them out, but strangely busied herself with looking around the room to wherever she could strain her eyes.  
  
They were now arguing, yelling, but Blossom wasn't listening, for something new and intriguing had caught her interest. If she had been in better condition she would have whooped for joy, but seeing the professor creeping towards Him very slowly, brandishing a very large chunk of wall in his hand, did not stir up an elation. Instead she watched the professor very softly, and very briefly he caught her gaze, and in that instant he looked like he was going to be sick.  
  
The professor grew closer. Him hadn't even noticed. Bubbles and Buttercup kept talking to Him, trying to keep his attention focused away from his backside. they had clearly noticed.  
  
With a satisfying crack of rock on bone, the professor smashed the piece of wall directly onto Him's back with surprising accuracy. Him let out a strangled cry of surprise, and Blossom felt his grip on her throat suddenly release. Very slowly, she was falling. and a second later she felt her body hit the ground with a very heavy thump.  
  
It was if an explosion had gone off in that very empty room. The second Him had released Blossom, stumbling and cursing, Buttercup had lunged at him with heightened fury. Bubbles, who threw herself into the frenzy with gritted teeth, every ounce of anger bursting, closely followed her. The three of them were engulfed in a smoking battle, Blossom barely able to follow.  
  
There was a very defined shriek as Him was caught in the chest by Bubbles's eye lasers. Then Buttercup knocked him with her specialized uppercut, followed by a perfect roundhouse kick. The battle raged on, Blossom just struggling to stay conscious as she felt the professor scoop her up in his arms, propping her up against the crook of his elbow as he kneeled to the floor.  
  
There was a stinging sensation of pain as she felt a hand against her wound. She looked up weakly, and met the flushed gaze of the professor who was desperately trying to stop the bleeding with his own hands. Blossom watched her father lovingly, and he did nothing but stare down at her bleeding stomach with puffy, reddened eyes.  
  
There was suddenly a scream that was female and very familiar. Blossom gasped, feeling a sudden surge of energy move through her as she watched Buttercup fall, a fresh trail of raw wounds along her right side. The pure shock of being hurt sent Buttercup thrashing to the ground.  
  
Blossom moved herself to a shaky stand with renewed strength, making the professor gasp with surprise as she pulled away from his grasp, ignoring the biting pain and soaking blood on her body. She was very aware of the Chemical X that was putting her body back into overdrive, perhaps for just a moment.  
  
Bubbles roared very angrily and flew at Him, blood trickling down her cheek from a very minor scratch. Just as Bubbles reached Him, he grabbed a good- sized chunk of her blonde hair and forced her head first down onto the floor, connecting with an echoing smack. It was as if a piece of the floor partially exploded; as Bubbles's head hit the ground, it created a crumbling hole in the floor that matched the exact shape and size of her skull. Bubbles lifted her head shakily; gently fingering the part of her head that had met with the ground, blood oozing from her forehead. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she groaned, crashing face first back onto the floor where she remained still as a rock.  
  
As that was happening, it seemed as if Blossom's mind had been over run by some vengeful spirit. Her sisters were in trouble. She had to do something-  
  
Blossom pressed her hands together firmly, feeling the pressure build between her palms and the shooting tingling sensations that streaked through her arms. She separated her hands very slowly, creating a thrumming bridge of electricity that jumped between her conduit fingers. Him was just about to kill Buttercup.  
  
"Hey!" Blossom croaked, the energy in her hands making her tremble. Him spun around, saw her, and then growled angrily. Blossom very quickly glanced at Buttercup, who had jumped up to help Bubbles.  
  
Then Him's attention shifted to something behind Blossom, and he smiled wickedly. Blossom heard the professor gasp, and as Him moved forward to attack Blossom moved directly into his path.  
  
"You won't touch him," she said very weakly, and she lifted her palms in his direction, directing the energy with her mind. There was a blinding flash as the lightening jumped from her fingers and engulfed Him, fizzling and popping as it did its work. Him was replaced by an exploding ball of hot, sizzling white light, screaming and yelping as it licked at his body.  
  
Then very suddenly it stopped and Him fell to his knees. For a second Blossom was terrified that her plan hadn't worked, because Him appeared as if he was going to get up again, but he didn't. Him's entire body was smoking, and he was shaking violently as a few stray sparks continued to pop amongst his smoking skin. He looked up at Blossom very weakly, and his eyes dropped just slightly, blood covering his face-  
  
"This-isn't-over." And with a very loud crack and whirling mass of smoke Him was gone.  
  
Everyone had frozen, and they all watched Blossom as she wobbled, suddenly very weak again. The professor leapt up and ran to her, just as Blossom fell over to the side with a huge sigh. Her sisters were upon her in an instant, and Blossom looked up at her entire family as her vision began to blur.  
  
The professor peeled off his dirty lab jacket and attempted to use it as a bandage, pressing it against Blossom's wound. He looked up at Buttercup,  
  
"Keep pressure on it," he said very softly. Buttercup looked at the professor, horror struck, as if the weight of the entire world had been pressed against her shoulders, but she obeyed his every word.  
  
Blossom could barely feel a warm hand on her forehead, as the professor looked her over, silent tears falling down his cheeks. Bubbles very softly touched Blossom's face, her other hand still holding her head where she'd hit the ground.  
  
"The Chemical X is keeping her alive. but it won't for long." the professor's voice floated through Blossom's consciousness slowly. She felt herself slipping, and almost felt her heart fluttering weakly in her chest, struggling like a wounded bird trying to gain flight.  
  
"Professor!" Buttercup choked, sobbing. All this was happening very slowly, and Blossom's attention was very minute.  
  
"Blossom! Please don't leave!" Bubbles cried, her voice soft and distant.  
  
The professor looked back at his other two daughters and his face became very serious, but Blossom never saw the strength in his gaze. She had closed her eyes weakly, her breathing becoming very slow and shallow. If she had been able to see her face she wouldn't have recognized herself. Her entire complexion had changed into the pasty white of a ghost, her skin clammy and cool.  
  
"Only you can get her there in time," he said, his voice almost having an echoing quality to it. Buttercup nodded shortly. In the next second, Blossom felt herself lifted away from the professor, only to find herself in Buttercup's strong grasp.  
  
"I'll take you," Bubbles said mournfully to the professor, but Blossom knew nothing else after that. Everything had suddenly gone very dark and quiet. 


	22. Interlude

Quick note: If you're thinking it's a bit weird that the police would show up for something like this, I'll shed a little bit of light on this. I think this is how it works, but police are required to report on any sort of death or serious injury, even if there was no crime involved. My dad just happens to be one and this is what he told me. Maybe some of you weren't wonder, but for those of you who were. here ya go.  
  
Inner Turmoil- Interlude  
  
There was lots of screaming and yelling in the hospital that night. People were hollering and running around hurriedly in a blind panic. Something had gone very wrong and they had to do something about it, fast.  
  
It was around midnight when a sobbing black haired girl burst through the sliding doors of the emergency room, clutching a dying red-haired girl in her arms. She was mumbling incoherently through her tears, clutching the girl in her arms as if she thought she would some how disappear if she let go.  
  
In a flash the nurses were upon the two girls, screaming at one another, gasping and cringing at the ghastly burden that had been put in their hands. They quickly took the bleeding girl away, wheeling her away on a stretcher and taking her down a long white corridor that was heavily illuminated. The other people in the emergency room waiting area watched with horror. Their problems suddenly seemed very trivial.  
  
About two seconds later a man arrived, flushed and sweaty, with a crying blonde girl following close behind. Another nurse swooped down upon the three of them, and she led the two girls back into another room to be treated for their minor injuries. The tall, black-haired man followed very closely, clearly in the highest state of panic.  
  
A doctor burst into the room where the nurse was treating the blonde girl's head.  
  
"What happened?" he said, panting.  
  
"An accident!" the black haired man stuttered. "Er- an animal. attacked us." he lied. The doctor may have looked like he didn't quite believe the man, but before he could say anything he ran from the room, back down the hallway to the surgery room where they had taken to dying girl.  
  
People were running, shouting, flying past the doorway carrying various necessities for the emergency, all shouting to each other. The dark-haired man grabbed the nurse roughly by the shoulder.  
  
"I want to see her!"  
  
"I'm sorry sir, but that may not be the best idea-"  
  
The black haired girl suddenly burst into noisy tears. It may have been the stress, or it may have been because the nurse had just applied alcohol to her wounds for cleaning.  
  
"Are you hurt?" the nurse asked calmly, brushing a thin strip of brown hair from her sweaty face. The man shook his head very fiercely.  
  
"I want to see my little girl!" He ran his hands through his graying black hair, messing it up completely. He knew his daughter was in surgery, but he had to see her, afraid that the one fleeting glance he'd had of her in his arms was the last he'd ever get.  
  
"I'm sorry sir!" the nurse hollered, partially because her voice had to carry over the police sirens that had just arrived in the parking lot. The three family members exchanged very worried glances as they heard the police walk into the emergency room, asking question of the people. They knew this was standard procedure, but there was absolutely no way that they could tell the truth.  
  
"We just want to ask you a few questions."  
  
"Ummm. yeah," the man said very softly, as the uniformed man led him to a quiet part of the hospital. The nurse stayed with the two girls, watching them cautiously, not really knowing if she should strike up conversation to help their minds through it.  
  
"Is Blossom going to be okay?" the blonde girl squeaked, she was tugging aimlessly at the bandage strapped to her head, already soaking through with blood.  
  
"She's going to be just fine." the nurse said, but she was lying, because she didn't really think the red haired girl was going to survive.  
  
The black haired girl wandered out of the room without the nurse noticing and looked around. The waiting room people were staring at her, all their faces a mixture of shocked stupidity. The girl looked the other way, where they had taken her sister, and took a few cautious steps in that direction, but a doctor caught her.  
  
"I need you to stay right here." and he shoved her back into the room where her blonde sister and the nurse were weeping, before he hurried away. Buttercup looked at him just long enough to see that the front of his white jacket was stained with blood. Very suddenly she wanted to throw up.because she knew that it was her sister's blood... How much left could she possibly have?  
  
Their father came back, and he looked terrible. He sat on a bench outside the room, with his head in his hands. He'd lied to the police; he'd had to. They wouldn't have believed him if he told the truth.  
The man felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up to see his raven- haired daughter standing next to him. She was trying to smile, to say everything would be all right, but she really didn't know. Then very suddenly she threw herself into the man's arms, the very man who she had despised just hours before.  
  
"I'm so sorry daddy! I'm so sorry I ever hated you!" and she cried into his dirty, bloodstained white shirt, making it considerably wet. Every ounce of tension that had been between them over the course of the last few weeks suddenly drained away and splattered to nothing with the girls hot tears.  
  
The blonde haired girl emerged from the room and sat next to her father. He scooped her up into his arms along with the remorseful girl and they cried together, wondering what life would be like if their Blossom died.  
  
The police left. It was almost an hour later before a doctor came up to the three of them and cleared his throat. They jumped, and looked up at him, their faces awash with fear of the bad news.  
  
"You're daughter lost so much blood. You were lucky to get her here so quickly. If you had been any slower then she wouldn't have made it," he said.  
  
Simultaneously, the grip on all three of their hearts released, giving them room to breath.  
  
***  
  
Buttercup was scared. She didn't really know what to expect as she sat on a clean white hospital bed, waiting. The room was empty, and she looked around, twiddling her thumbs, swinging her legs idly in an attempt to occupy herself. So much was running through her head at that moment, and her stomach was an absolute mess of nerves and sickness. To say the least, she was just slightly mortified.  
  
The room was empty except for a few beds, and Buttercup sat at the far end of the room. Next to her, there was a large plastic bag hanging on a wheeled hook, a long tube attached to the end of the bag. She eyed it warily, knowing what it was for, but it seemed like waiting made the occasion all the more terrifying.  
  
Then, a nurse walked into the room, followed by the professor and Bubbles. They came over to her and stood at the end of the bed, watching Buttercup quietly. The nurse smiled, and came up to her, grabbing the end of the long tube, and at the same time, she pulled out a small package.  
  
"Well, it's a good thing we had one, or I don't know what we would have done," she said, ripping open the package and emptying the contents onto a clean tray. It was a needle, and a very thick one at that. Buttercup felt herself start to tremble. The one thing she was afraid of, besides spiders, was a hospital needle, and this one was the biggest of them all. It was going to hurt like a sonuvabitch.  
  
The nurse was of course referring to the type of needle. A very rare make that just happened to be composed of the only metal that could actually pierce their skin. It was called X3Ti6, a mixture of crystallized xantium and titanium, the chemical bonds giving it just the right amount of strength to be able to break through the girls' tough epidermis. It was definitely a rare type of needle, and was occasionally needed for regular hospital operations. It just so happened that it was frequently used for patients that had extra sensitive skin. The metal itself was highly sanitary, and stayed that way, because it had the remarkable ability to ward of harmful particles that would otherwise contaminate it. Punctures were clean and efficient, and healed quickly, thus making it useful for patients who were slow healers. The professor had told the nurse that Buttercup was allergic to the needles they normally used, and that this make was the only kind she had immunity to. That kept them out of a potentially sticky situation in regards to their powers.  
  
The nurse put on a pair of sanitized gloves and attached the needle to the end of the tube. Very gently she pushed Buttercup down onto the bed so that she was lying on her back, and she grabbed her forearm and pulled it towards her.  
  
Buttercup squeezed her eyes shut, her face towards the ceiling. She knew the professor and Bubbles were still in the room, standing at the foot of the bed, and she tried hard to concentrate on that. She kept getting distracted by her fearful anticipation, and it felt like an eternity between the time the nurse cleaned the skin on the crook of her elbow, and the moment she actually slid the needle through.  
  
She gasped, her eyes suddenly swelling with a rush of hot tears as she tried to bite the pain away. She clenched her other fist, keeping her eyes shut tight, hoping that nobody was bearing witness to her moment of weakness. It hurt so badly, and she had to fight of the desire to punch the nurse and tear the needle out of her. She just wanted it out.  
  
Then the pain subsided, and she felt the nurse rest her arm back onto the bed at Buttercup's side. She told her to keep her arm very still and Buttercup nodded.  
  
As the nurse stood and left, saying she'd be back to check on her, Buttercup looked at her arm and followed the darkened tube up to the hanging bag, which was slowly filling with her own blood, the life-blood that would guarantee Blossom a second chance.  
  
Content with that Buttercup sighed and closed her eyes.  
  
"She owes me big-time," Buttercup mumbled, and the professor and Bubbles looked at each other and exchanged warm smiles, hugging each other tight. 


	23. Part twentytwo

Inner Turmoil- Chapter 22  
  
For some reason, she couldn't quite wake up.  
  
She was swimming on the brim of consciousness, but the closer she got to the light the harder it was to move. Very slowly, various things crept into her awareness, sounds that were very strange but alive around her, images of the horrors she had experienced what seemed like hours before. She saw her house, trashed, the professor lying on the floor dead, her sister Bubbles crying weakly, Buttercup in the highest state of panicked anger, and her own reality crashing around her in a mixture of blood and darkness-  
  
-And above it all, like the epitome of evil, she saw Him, standing above her, watching her, marking her-  
  
-With a sudden rush of breath Blossom nearly leapt up in her warm bed, feeling very flushed and alarmed. She looked around quickly, delirious; blinking wetly as the sudden bright light stung her tired eyes. Soon her vision swam into focus and she was able to get a proper look at her surroundings, her head still swimming from panic and what must have been a very long nap.  
  
She was propped up on a pillow in what looked like a cozy hospital room. The most prominent thing in the room was the steady beeping of the electro cardio graph she was hooked too. She looked at it for a while with interest, watching the bright lines map the even movements of her heart, which were just now starting to slow from her very abrupt awakening. It started to become unnerving, watching her heart beat like a programmed timer, so she shuddered and turned her glance away.  
  
The room was very bright and seemed to glow in the mid day sun. Feeling very tired and sore, she watched with subdued interest as the hospital instruments around her clicked and sighed as they did their work. Her entire body felt stiff and weak, and her mouth felt like she'd been eating cotton balls for a week.  
  
She looked around the room slowly, slightly confused, but jumped when she suddenly saw her sister Bubbles, goggling at her as if she'd just been through a huge shock. It was funny how she hadn't even noticed her sister earlier, sitting directly at her side.  
  
"Blossom!" she said softly. Bubbles looked like she hadn't slept for a month. There were great big dark circles under her eyes, and instead of her hair in the usual pigtails, it fell over her shoulders in messy curls. Bubbles lurched forward suddenly and landed her head against Blossom's shoulder, a very awkward hug to say the least. They laid there for what seemed like an eternity, with Bubbles's face buried in Blossom's hospital robe, her breathing very deep and even. Everything seemed very calm, too calm even. Finally, Bubbles moved away.  
  
"Hi, Bubbles," Blossom said softly, exploring the top of her right hand, shuddering as she felt the needle burrowed deep into her vein. She scratched at the thick strip of tape that held it there, dimly wondering what it was for, when Bubbles seemed to have read her mind.  
  
"You'd lost so much blood that they needed a transfusion as soon as possible. well, the professor couldn't do it. because. you know. Buttercup ended up being the one. She was so persistent that it should have been her."  
  
Bubbles trailed off, at a loss for words, but Blossom understood what she meant anyway. Of course the professor couldn't have given his blood for her. Even if it happened to be a match, which would have been unlikely, their genetics would have been so incompatible it would have only ended in disaster. As far as they knew, the professor was not their real father, but the Chemical X in their blood alone would be sufficient enough to keep him from giving his blood. It just wouldn't have worked.  
  
It was also surprising that Buttercup had been willing to be the one to give up a portion of her blood. For one thing, she'd always been afraid of hospital needles, and secondly, how much blood had she needed to replace? Blossom remembered losing so much. in fact, it was a wonder that she'd even survived being so drained. Perhaps there was just a little more to Chemical X than they knew.  
  
"She was really grumpy afterwards. Nothing she said made any sense," Bubbles laughed lightly, a sparkle returning to her tired eyes. "She was telling me off for wearing pigtails so much when she just sort of fell asleep in mid-sentence. It was really cute as a matter-of-fact."  
  
Blossom smiled, wholly interested in what Bubbles had to say, yet at the same time she felt restless and uninterested. So many things were running through her head that she needed to sort out.  
  
The last thing she'd remembered before dropping off was that she had been dying. She had been so sure that it was the end. but. she very dimly remembered being brought into the hospital, and having doctors standing around her, hot lights beating down on her as the doctors took care of her. Her remembrance came in brief flashes of incoherent thoughts, none of it connecting, none of it making sense. but there was some point in her restless sleep that she remembered feeling suddenly refreshed. It had almost felt like her strength had returned to her, even for a brief moment, as if she'd just been filled with some sort of charged energy. the Chemical X returning to her body.  
  
And Buttercup. words really couldn't describe the emotion Blossom was feeling. She looked around, finally realizing that both the professor and Buttercup were absent from the room. She felt disappointed, wanting to see the faces of the rest of her family, but most importantly, she wanted to say something to her green-eyed sister. There were no words appropriate to express her gratitude for what Buttercup had done: bringing her to the hospital, possibly making the difference between her survival and death, and giving her own blood to save her in the end. It seemed as if she'd made the biggest sacrifice, and it just solidified the fact that deep down Buttercup did care, and was willing to do anything for her sisters.  
  
"Where are they?" Blossom finally managed to croak, surprised to find it difficult to string an entire sentence together. Her voice felt closed and thin, and she touched her throat as a response, wincing at the tenderness of her skin.  
  
Claws. squeezing my throat. can't breath.  
  
Instantly she tried to shake it out of her mind. She could still feel his grasp.  
  
"They. went out to get food I think," Bubbles said, a hint of worry on her face. Blossom was staring straight ahead, her brow furrowed in deep thought, but her face hinting at something that was unpleasant. Bubbles quickly leaned forward and put her hand on Blossom's cheek, pulling her face so that their eyes met.  
  
Blossom didn't say anything, and her anguished expression vanished. She nodded slowly in response to Bubbles's last sentence, her face now expressionless.  
  
"Are you okay?" Bubbles said, her voice comforting. Blossom looked into her sister's clear blue eyes, breathing deeply as she tried to think of something to say. Blossom decided to change the subject entirely.  
  
"How are you?" she blurted, making a motion towards the white bandage that was still on Bubbles's head. Bubbles shook her head, and let out a sigh.  
  
"It's basically healed. The stitches were taken out a few days ago," she said, fingering the cloth of the bandage on her forehead. For a second her eyes clouded over with something like fear, but it instantly disappeared. "They said that I'd had a concussion, but I hadn't even noticed because I'd been so scared. After Buttercup fell asleep and I knew that everything was going okay I started feeling really dizzy. and I think I might have passed out again. The professor was so worried."  
  
Bubbles's eyes traveled down to where Blossom's hand was fingering uncomfortably at the stomach of her hospital gown. She's forgotten all about her wound up until then, but now that she suddenly remembered it, she could feel that it was there. It was basically closed up, that she cold tell, but the stitches were still there none the less. It wasn't pain that she was feeling, but just an uncomfortable sense of. wrongness, like something wasn't quite right down there. She just felt the hugest urge to touch it. to just see what was going on down there. and to just see what she'd have to live with the rest of her life; a constant reminder of what Him had done to her.  
  
"The doctors. well. they were really confused as to how you were still alive. they kept asking really awkward questions, like they thought you were on something. the professor didn't really know what to say, it was terrible." Bubbles said quietly, grabbing Blossom's hand and moving it away from her stomach. Her gaze wandered over to the foot of the bed, where it remained there for a good five minutes. For some reason she was avoiding eye contact with her sister, as if there was something shameful in the way Blossom was looking at her.  
  
"Oh," Blossom said quietly. She watched Bubbles intently as she attempted to make herself comfortable. She was still a little confused and very tired.  
  
"Buttercup got you here in time. The professor said that we were the only things fast enough to get you to the hospital. before you."  
  
"I know. and it's okay," Blossom smiled. Bubbles was obviously trying to search for words in order to avoid saying the "d" word, but Blossom saved her the trouble by touching her sister's head. "You know. you both did everything you could. there wasn't much else that you could have done. considering. well."  
  
"I know." Bubbles whispered, "but we've been feeling really guilty. we thought we failed you. we should have been able to help you.If you'd have died. it would have been our fault! We let them take you away!" her voice was quickly rising.  
  
"There isn't any point in blaming yourself. I did something really stupid." Blossom said, but she faltered when all the terrible memories suddenly flooded back into her brain in marvelous detail. Every moment, every word rocketed back into her awareness in full color and clarity. "I should have seen it before. I should have known Him was involved."  
  
"How could you have known?!"  
  
"He did it all. He was trying to destroy our sanity. he was around the whole time and we didn't know it. He was playing a game with us. my dream. your horse. barging in on Buttercup in the bathroom. He was just messing with us until the day we'd face him." Blossom said quietly, thinking back to everything that had happened.  
  
"All that? He did all that?"  
  
"We felt him around. but we never really put the pieces together. We knew what he was capable of. and there's no other villain from our past that attacks us in that manner. I should have seen it before. I knew something was familiar every time I looked into that man's eyes."  
  
Bubbles was looking down at the bed sheets, absently playing with a corner of the thick white blanket with her fingers. She nodded in response to everything Blossom said, but she had no words to comment.  
  
"I just got careless," Blossom said, turning to Bubbles. Blossom lifted her sister's face to meet her soft, tired gaze. "If you guys hadn't showed up when you did. I would be dead," she said very stonily, her eyes almost devoid of emotion. It was hard to think back to what had happened, and to imagine what could have been if the professor and her sisters hadn't interceded when they did.  
  
They'd shown so much loyalty and devotion in the labs, and that made Blossom feel eternally grateful. She's been in a real bad situation, and they'd risked their own necks to help her, and that took so much courage; even the professor had risked a tussle with Him in order to save his daughter.  
  
Blossom shifted uncomfortable, feeling the thick stitches on her belly move as she did so. She slid back against her pillow and closed her eyes, thinking about sleep, when she suddenly realized something very crucial. It was against her better judgment to bring it back up again, but she had to get it out.  
  
"Bubbles, do you remember the dream I kept having?" Blossom asked, staring up at the ceiling.  
  
"Uh huh," Bubbles said.  
  
"It. was Him. He was. showing us our birthplace. taunting us. making us doubt everything that has happened to us all our lives. He wanted us to start questioning the validity of everything the professor was saying. and he wanted us to start questioning why we did so much for. Townsville," Blossom said, laying a hand carefully on her stomach where the wound was. "He was using our own questions about our origins as a way to lure us into a trap. He. he told me things. things he planned to do." she said shakily, noticing that Bubbles's face had suddenly gone very hard, the kind of face she made when she was angry.  
  
"You knew didn't you? You were trying to tell me. before they took you away."  
  
Bubbles nodded, and started blinking furiously, holding back tears. She took a deep breath and managed to keep them in, turning to face her sister.  
  
"I knew he was going to kill you, Blossom. It didn't want to lose you. he said that Buttercup and I. were going to help him."  
  
"So he told you?"  
  
"Well, that's all he said. He didn't actually say what he planned to do, but I found it weird that he seemed to forget that there were three of us. I knew when I saw his face after you gave yourself up. I knew he was going to hurt you." she suddenly dropped into silence, unwilling to go on.  
  
"I. I'm sorry," Blossom said softly. "I shouldn't have done it."  
  
"Don't worry about it," Bubbles said, shaking her head. ".We don't have to talk about it now if you don't want to. I think you should just rest now."  
  
"Yeah. I am a little tired. I guess-" Blossom was finishing, when she was interrupted by a rather high-pitched squeak from the doorway.  
  
Blossom turned her head and saw Buttercup standing there, holding what looked like a bag of food. The professor stood right behind her, framing the doorway with an expression of relieved shock. Blossom smiled, her eyes glittering,  
  
"Hi."  
  
"Blossom!" Buttercup cried, dropping the bag onto the floor before practically leaping into her sister's arms. Before long she was sobbing again.  
  
"Oh I was so scared! It's all my fault!! I shouldn't have run off, then none of this would have happened! If only I'd have listened to you- I'm so stupid!" she cried loudly between gasping breaths. The professor had picked up the bag she'd dropped and set it on the table at the end of the room. He walked over and sat next to Bubbles, putting a hand on Blossom's arm, the other on Buttercup's back.  
  
"Buttercup. maybe your sister doesn't want to be smothered right now, okay?" he said, gazing thoughtfully at Blossom as he gently moved his hand to her forehead. "How are you honey?"  
  
"I'm okay," Blossom said meekly, blushing at the professor's display of affection.  
  
Buttercup gave a mighty sniff and pulled away, her face soaking wet. She let herself fall heavily against the professor's shoulder and continued to hiccough loudly. Blossom noticed this, and having been unconscious when they apparently made up, set herself to asking,  
  
"So-er-everything's okay then?" she asked nervously.  
  
Buttercup nodded softly. Without the proper words she'd clearly understood what Blossom had meant to say.  
  
"I guess I changed my mind when I saw the professor risk his life to. help you." Buttercup drifted off, uneager to speak of past events, her gaze flitting nervously towards the professor, who was still watching Blossom calmly. "I suppose. he showed he really did care." Buttercup suddenly went very silent and almost looked as if she wanted to run out of the room for embarrassment. The professor ruffled her hair affectionately, without words telling her it was okay. It was a rare event indeed for Buttercup to appear embarrassed.  
  
Blossom sat up quickly, feeling a sudden jerk of pain overcome her body, bringing her mind back onto someone she didn't want to think about.  
  
"I wonder where Him is now," she said gravely, not really speaking to anyone, and not really expecting a response. Blossom didn't know what events had transpired between the time she'd been unconscious and now. For all she knew, Him could have done something, and she wanted to know if there had been any trouble while she'd been in a coma.  
  
"Well, after your last attack he hasn't shown himself since," The professor said as he put a hand back on her forehead, as if checking for a fever. "I suppose you did scare him off."  
  
"He'll be back though," Blossom said, her gaze shifting to outside the window. In the distance she heard a car alarm going off. "To finish the job."  
  
"Blossom don't say that-" the professor began, but Blossom turned back to him, her face so emotional that the he stopped in mid-sentence.  
  
Blossom didn't respond, but felt herself become overwhelmed with an overpowering feeling of sadness. The three of them looked at her with cautious horror, waiting for her to continue, but she really didn't have anything else to say, except, "He purposely tried to separate us, to get me alone. He's more powerful than we thought. even more powerful than we are. and he can easily do it."  
  
The professor was watching her sadly, and there was a light hint of disapproval in his gaze, as if he thought everything Blossom said was just paranoia.  
  
Not really in the mood to explain the entire story just yet, Blossom decided to leave it alone. Instead, she lifted her arms in an obvious request for a hug, closing her eyes as she felt the professor lean over and take her into his grasp. She felt so content and safe in his arms, but tears filled her tired eyes as she realized it was just false security. He couldn't really protect her against what she feared.  
  
"What happened to Medicom?" Blossom asked finally, pulling away. The professor's expression turned very grave.  
  
"Well, they closed down. It was very sudden, and the media had a field day. You should have heard the rumors," the professor said lightly, but there was a trace of relief in his voice. There was no more worrying about them anymore.  
  
"But that doesn't make sense. Why would they just disappear like that?"  
  
"I suppose Him had been running everything for a long time in preparation. for. you know. and perhaps when he disappeared they didn't quite know what to do. It must have been absolute chaos over there. Their stock completely fell down the drain and they were forced to file for bankruptcy." The professor sighed, "Perhaps it's for the best."  
  
It seemed ridiculous, but there wasn't any point in worrying about it anymore.  
  
"I've also made a decision. we're going back," the professor said after a long uncomfortable silence. The three of them looked at the professor with hopeful expectations, knowing full well what he meant. "Well- as soon as you're all better," he smiled at Blossom, who watched him with one of the brightest smiles she'd held in a long time. "It's really where we belong I think."  
  
And they all agreed.  
***  
  
The airport terminal was hot and muggy with the strength of the August sun, making them all sweat buckets through their hurried struggle to carry their luggage away from the airplane terminal.  
  
Bubbles and Buttercup tried desperately to follow the frenzied pace of the professor. Blossom lagged behind, her pace hampered by the mere fact that she still felt a bit weak. Finally, exasperated, she dropped her luggage in the middle of the corridor and stood there stubbornly.  
  
"That's it!" she cried helplessly, clutching the sore region where her stitches had been just a week earlier. After she'd gotten out of the hospital it had been a mad rush of phone calls and packing, their preparations for moving back to their former residence. It was a pure stroke of luck that their old house had been put up for sale again, and they'd snatched it up very quickly, eager to be once again nestled in the quiet suburbs outside of the city proper.  
  
Blossom had barely had time to rest after her ordeal, because despite the professor's frequent protests she'd insisted on packing all her stuff by herself.  
  
Nothing had happened once she'd returned home. For a while, while she'd been in the hospital, during the frequent periods when she'd been alone in her room, she'd been afraid that Him would suddenly reappear to claim her. He never did, and those days had been filled with mounting tension, relief when her sisters had returned to her side, then growing unease once again every time they decided to step out of the room. The professor, bless him, had stayed by her side twenty-four hours a day, but despite the courage he'd shown back at the labs, Blossom doubted he'd really be able to protect her effectively against Him.  
  
Once Blossom had been released from the hospital she'd felt loads better, because she no longer felt so isolated and worried. She was healing fast, and in a few days time would be back to normal. Nobody seemed too keen to speak of the run-in with Him, and every time the subject did start to come around, everyone suddenly became strangely mute. Horrid memories were hard enough to forget, but to have to keep reliving them through words. Blossom felt it was much nicer not to talk about it at all. Her family also had the habit of stealing awkward glances in her direction in the event that the subject did begin, and Blossom found it quite uncomfortable.  
  
It had been their final evening in the still-trashed place they'd called home for the past five years, when Blossom had finally built up the courage to tell her family. She'd ended up telling them everything Him had told her, and everything that he's planned to do. Her family had been appalled to say the least, and while Buttercup and Bubbles had vehemently protested that Him would have never been able to sway them, Blossom knew better. The truth still stood that they didn't really know what he was fully capable of, but they did know that he'd always been a very good persuader. While both of them had been in such states of broken down mentalities, who knew how easy it would have been for Him to manipulate them. They didn't really know, and that evening had been so full of anger and tears that Blossom had to wonder if letting the story out had felt any better at all.  
  
"Honestly! What's the huge rush!?" Blossom shouted after them. They stopped and turned. Buttercup looked at her scornfully.  
  
"Awww, come on!" she said impatiently. Blossom was glad to note that once she'd left the hospital, Buttercup returned to her less than cheerful self. Her constant crying had started to get just a little irritating.  
  
The professor came up and attempted to scoop up one of Blossom's bags, but then proceeded to drop everything he was holding all over the hallway, making quite a scene. People around were eyeing them excitedly, most likely because they recognized them, but thankfully kept from doing anything rash.  
  
"It's okay!" He said very quickly, trying to scoop everything back up again, but the bags were putting up quite a fight. Bubbles interceded quickly and picked up the last bits that he hadn't managed to grab, smiling broadly as she did so. Blossom's arms were now free, and it was easier for her to move more quickly now that she wasn't weighed down.  
  
"Umm, thanks," she said lightly, trying very hard to smile, but finding it rather difficult because her side had just started throbbing painfully. She tried to look casual as she tried to squeeze the pain away, but the professor, who was quick in observation when it came to his daughters, noticed almost immediately.  
  
"Something wrong?"  
  
"No. Let's go," Blossom said quickly, shooing them forward, because she was very eager to get out again.  
  
After a quick trip to the baggage claim, they made their way through the ticket area and to the outside. Blossom could swear she saw some security guards slightly disgruntled, grumbling about the news, when-  
  
"Oh, hell," she heard the professor say, and Blossom looked up to see why.  
  
There must have been hundreds of them. Reporters, cameramen, security, and what looked like eager bystanders were swarming an area just outside the sliding doors of the airport. Apparently they were waiting for something, Blossom's suspicions confirmed when all at once the mass of news reporters seemed to surge forward as the four of them walked into the glaring sunshine.  
  
There was a flurry of awkward questions and subtle clicks of cameras as the people attempted to question them all at once. They tried very patiently to answer everything, but Blossom started to get extremely shy when one of the reporters brought up her very obvious injury. She didn't have any clue how they could possibly know about it. but apparently someone had found something out.  
  
Then they all started asking questions very fast, cameras rolling, photos clicking away madly.  
  
"Can you tell us what happened?"  
  
"Erm- it was just an accident-"  
  
"How long were you in the hospital? Was the wound extensive?!"  
  
"Um- well- er- no. I think I was out for two weeks-"  
  
"Any idea as to who the perpetrator was?"  
  
"No! I uh-"  
  
"What do you plan to do about the recent string of diabolical crimes in Townsville?"  
  
"Huh?" Buttercup said rather pathetically, cutting in to give Blossom some breathing time.  
  
"How do you plan to deal with Mojo Jojo?"  
  
"What do you mean?" Buttercup stammered loudly, folding her arms impatiently. All of them had dropped their bags in the confusion.  
  
"What is your response to the news of his breakout from the institution?"  
  
"WHAT?!??!" Bubbles shrieked very loudly, causing a few of the reporters to move backwards sharply. They'd been pressing in just a bit too close as if they thought they'd get a better view of them if their noses were touching.  
  
"Well I think everyone knows the answer to that," Blossom said indignantly, puffing her chest out with pride looking directly into one of the cameras. "I suppose he has no idea we're back. But let me tell you, he better not poke his head up anytime soon."  
  
And with that there was another flurry of questions. None of them cared, because for some reason they felt like that one piece of their lives that had been missing, had just been put snuggly back into place. It was back to business as usual.  
  
And somewhere, on the other side of town, a hunched over, furred figure was watching the television. He growled, slamming his primate fist down on the armrest of his chair, and turned his attention away from the TV. He looked to his left where something large and gleaming lay propped on an operating table, his baby, his new creation, his newest diabolical scheme. He grinned and stood, moving over to where his newest machine laid dormant and continued to prepare for the very near future. 


End file.
